The Achieve Men
by BassGuru
Summary: The Achieve Men, Yang's favorite group of hunters, visits Beacon to teach all of the students a thing or two about fighting.
1. Chapter 1: Welcome The Achieve Men!

Welcome… The Achieve Men!

*_Finally, I can write some light-hearted content! I'm pretty excited about writing this, it sure is fun to write about the guys._

Professor Ozpin had called a meeting in the Auditorium, apparently something very exciting.

"Oh, I can't wait to see what it is!" Yang said, almost jumping out of her own shoes. Blake rolled her eyes.

"Calm down, what's 'exciting' to Ozpin is probably drop-dead boring to us." She said pessimistically. Yang shrugged her off.

"Whatever, Blake." She said, walking to the head of Team RWBY, trying to see what was happening. Ozpin then proceeded to talk.

"Hello, students. I have seen that many of you," He said, looking around the room, "Have taken to bad habits when fighting. This mustn't continue, so we brought a special group of people to help you out with these… problems." The crowd of students roared in delight upon hearing this. Professionals, teaching them!  
"Ok, everyone, settle down." He said, gesturing for the students to simmer down. "Please… Welcome… The Achieve Men!" Ozpin said, with an uncharacteristic tone of enthusiasm. He walked off the stage. For a couple seconds, the crowd remained silent as the stage was empty. But then, from nowhere, six grown men ran from the side of the stage. Yang nearly fainted.

"Holy shit! It's _them!" _She said excitedly. Blake pouted.

"They hardly look professional." She said, looking at the group of men all running to center stage, all wanting the attention. Yang gasped.

"I'll have you know that they are the _best, _and I mean _best, _in the industry." She said, sounding somewhat Weiss-ish with all the nagging. Blake still didn't seem too convinced.

"They're all fighting for the microphone like small children." She said, looking at the brawl. Slowly, some of the members were too tired, and gave up. This continued until one man, who Yang called Geoff, ended up with the microphone.

"He-*burp*-Hello. " The man said drunkenly. "I am Geoff Ramsey of… of the Achieve Men." The man said, nearly falling over. Weiss gasped, as if offended.

"He's a _drunkard!" _She said, utterly taken aback.

The man continued. "Here we have, Gavin Free," He said, pointing at a man on the ground being beaten, "And beating the shit out of him is… uh… Michael," He said, pointing at Michael, who gave a little wave. Yang almost fell over. "Here is Ray," He said, pointing to the man encouraging the beating of Gavin, "Here is Jack," Geoff said, pointing at the bearded one laughing along at Gavin's beating, "And uhh… Ryan." He said, finally pointing out the man stroking a mini-moo. He gave a small wave before proceeding to strangely talk to his miniature cow. After Geoff had finished, he limped from the podium and tripped. Michael helped him up and took the stage, leaving Gavin to be beaten by the rest. Walking up to the microphone, he wiped the blood off of his knuckles. "Hey, dicks. Listen here, your principal or whatever the fuck you call him has given us some _really _good fucking money to be here. We will not disclose how much," Michael said, looking towards Ozpin, who gave a nod, not acknowledging anything going on, "But, we will say that if you lag behind we will help you." Michael laughed at his own joke. "HAHAHA! _WE WON'T HELP YOU! I WAS JOKING!" _He said, wiping tears from his eyes. "But in all reality, guys, we are masters. Like fucking legit. We know what we're doing. You guys suck, that's why we're here. So you don't suck." As soon as Michael finished his inspirational speech, Yang clapped incessantly. "_Bravo!" _She yelled. Weiss shook her head in disbelief.

"Why me?" She said disappointedly.

Ozpin then took the stage again. "Tomorrow, lessons with The Achieve Men will begin. I hope you to be on your best behavior. These men are professionals. They will remain with us for the rest of this semester. Dismissed." He said. Upon hearing this, Weiss and Blake almost fell over in disbelief.

"A whole _semester? With them?" _Weiss retorted in disbelief. Yang nodded.

"I know, right!" She said enthusiastically. Ruby laughed.

"I don't get what your problem is, I think that Michael guy was kinda cute." She said, blushing.

Weiss gasped. "He was beating up that poor man! And the brown one was encouraging it! So was the bearded one."

Ruby shook her head. "That's racist. You know brown people might not like when you say that." She said, hanging her head in disappointment.

Weiss shrugged it off. "Well, what else am I gonna call it? It's not like there are any brown-ish people in our school. Or in Vale for that matter." She pointed out.

Ruby shook her head. "Whatever. Let's get to our dorm." She said, leading the team out of the auditorium. They walked peacefully for almost a minute before hearing a clang down the hall.

"What was that?" Yang asked, suddenly alert. As if answering her question, the man named Gavin came flying out of the door. An angry voice came from the room he was kicked out of.

"_You FUCKING __**MONG! **_You forgot to get your fucking _CLOTHES? YOU ARE SO FUCKING STUPID! GET YOUR HUGE SCHNOZ BACK ONTO THE SHIP!" _Michael said. A hand suddenly pointed from the room. "It's over there, idiot." He said, redirecting Gavin. Gavin took one look at Michael, and with a gut-wrenching expression ran off.

"I'm sorry, Michael! I just want to be your boi!" The man said, running down the hall.

Michael shook his head.

"Fucking idiot." He muttered under his breath. Before Michael even had time to close the door, Yang was on his ass.

"WAIT! Michael! Is this your dorm?" She asked, pointing at the room. "By the way, I _love _you guys!" She said, suddenly fangirling.

Michael nodded. Yang nearly screamed.

"Right across from ours!" She screamed. Michael nodded slowly.

"Yeah…" He said, shutting the door on Team RWBY's faces. Yang turned to face her teammates.

"What do you think? You think he'll autograph our poster?" She asked, looking at her teammates.


	2. Chapter 2: Day One

Day One

_*Wow. Holy __**shit. **__This got such a response, it blew me away. Within the first 3 hours of being published, this story got more review, favorites, and follows than my other RWBY story got in a week. _

_Thank you. Also, let's pretend Puerto Rico exists in this instance. Just pretend. Use that imagination._

Yang was the first up and about.

"We get to _train _with them! Come on guys, wake up!" she yelled, shaking the others awake. They slashed and clawed at her.

"Just 5 more minutes, Yang?"

"Awww, come on Yang, just a little?"

"Fuck you Yang! Let us sleep!" These were the words that came out the tired girls. Yang shook her head.

"Sleep is for wimps. We don't wanna be late!" She said, now pulling covers off of their beds. The girls grudgingly got out of bed, and got changed.

"Where is it, anyway?" asked Weiss, getting her skirt on. Yang pouted.

"Not sure," she said, looking through the schedule. "Oh. It's on the practice fields."

Blake groaned. "Those are so _far! _Oh my goodness..." She complained. Yang ignored her.

"Okay, Team, now that we're all ready, let us go!" She said, pointing out the door. They stepped out and began walking down the hall.

"Why isn't anyone up yet?" Weiss asked, looking around at the empty hallway. She looked down at her watch and was immediately filled with fury.

"_It's 6:30 you dunce! Were an hour and a half early!" _She said, her face turning red.

Yang shook her head. "Yeah, but they got up at 6:00 and headed towards the field." She pointed out, gesturing towards The Achieve Men's dorm.

Blake raised her eyebrow.

"Were you…. Watching them?" she asked suspiciously. Yang became defensive.

"_No! _Why would I do that?" She said, blushing furiously. Weiss stomped her foot in frustration.

"I guess we should head down anyway… Seeing as we're _already changed and awake!" _She said through gritted teeth. Yang hung her head, and they began to walk. Ruby was, surprisingly, also mad at Yang.

"Come on, Yang! Are you serious?" She yelled as Team RWBY walked out into the courtyard. "I was having quite the dream! Then you messed it up…" She said, getting mad.

Yang laughed.

"Yeah, I heard you saying something like: _Michael… Michael…" _She retorted. "Whatever, lay off, ok? I'm sorry."

Ruby blushed. "I will not lay off! _I do not like Michael!" _She said, becoming redder and redder by the moment. Weiss stopped the two.

"Look, we're here." She said, pointing at the fields. The six men sat there, setting up what looked like a course. Yang called out to them.

" Hey!" They all turned around to look who had called them. As soon as they lay eyes on Yang, they became angry.

"What are you doing here? It's really fucking early!" Geoff said. Yang shrugged it off.

"We just didn't see the time. What are you guys building?" She said, surprisingly keeping her cool.

The strange man named Ryan answered. "We're building a course for you guys. See which one of you guys suck and which ones don't." He said. Weiss noticed something as he spoke. He had a cage hanging off his belt.  
"Uhmm… Why do you a mini-moo in a cage?" She asked. Ryan suddenly looked up, fire in his eyes.

"Why do you ask?" He replied, a mad look on his face. Weiss shook her head.

"No... never mind." She said, not wanting to get on his bad side. Ryan still didn't back off.

"You got a problem with _Edgar?" _He asked. Ray, seeing the two arguing, got in between. He faced Ryan.

"Ryan, come on, she didn't mean to encroach on your-" He started. Ryan pushed him aside.

"You don't understand. _Edgar's _the one in the cage. Not _me! I am not mad!" _He said, getting closer to Weiss. She felt like crying. She had never been embarrassed like this. Ray again tried to interfere. This time it worked, and Ryan backed off, but with a threat.

"You watch it, _princess." _He said with a dirty look on his face. Yang chuckled to herself. Weiss looked at her.  
"What's so funny? That man is deranged!" She whispered to her. Yang shook her head.

"You see the symbol on his shoulder?" She said, pointing at his badge. Weiss nodded. "It's a crown. He didn't get the nickname The Mad King from nowhere." Weiss nodded, now realizing.

"Why is he mad?" She asked.

Yang sighed. "No one knows. Many think it's ever since he had his kid, Pubert. No one knows for sure, though. I think it's ever since he joined The Achieve Men. The things he's seen…." She said, trailing her sentence. Weiss opened her mouth, but was interrupted by Michael.

"I don't even know what to say, Gavin! _HOW THE FUCK DID YOU MANAGE THIS?!" _He yelled, pointing at a target that seemed to be lodged together with a javelin. "This is crazy! Get the fuck out of here!"

Weiss sighed. She did not like all the yelling. "Can we help in any way?" she asked. Michael turned around.

"Yeah, just sit down." He told her. Weiss complied.

"Ok..." She said, taking a seat. The rest of the girls followed, and promptly took seats on the grass. They watched for a whole hour as they set up the course. By the time the class had arrived, they still hadn't finished.

"This is your fault Gavin!" Ray said. The rest of the group nodded and gave their remarks of agreement.

"I'm sorry, guys, I just…" Gavin started, but was stopped by Geoff.

"Just shut the fuck up, dude."

Gavin complied and shut his trap, letting the others do all the work, while he sat by and didn't mess anything up. The whole class was settled when they finally finished the huge course they set up. Ray, wiping dust off his hands, got up to explain the course.

"Depending on your weapon, we'll assign you to different courses, and you will be assessed on how much you suck." He said. "Also, bonus points for any Puerto Ricans." He added. A faint 'Yes!' could be heard from the crowd. And so the categorizing began. Ranged weapons, like guns, were sent to Geoff's little section, which compromised of moving virtua-targets. Swords and anything close range, like Crescent Rose, were sent to Michael's course, a row of cheap, fragile practice dummies. People with bows were sent to Gavin's course, a surprisingly elaborate course with moving targets, and even a fan to simulate wind resistance. Anybody who used their fists, like Yang, were sent to Jack's course, a couple punching bags and such. Ray was in charge of the course for explosions, such as Nora's grenade launcher. He simply had a fenced in area with nothing to practice on except the field. Apparently, due to the school's racism, he was not given supplies. Ryan's course was one where people who used their semblance as a weapon were tested. He had a wide assortment of test dummies and targets laid out.

The first group up to demonstrate was Ray's troop of 3 people. Nora and two faceless, nameless people.

They gathered in a huddle. He looked around at his people.

"Ok, guys, we got this. Red-hair, you seem to be the only normal one, so you go and kick ass. You guys," He said, looking at the others, "Just do whatever. Okay. On three, blaze. One… two… three!" In unison, the group yelled "BLAZE!" and headed off onto the plain track. Ray turned around to face the crowd.

"First up, red-head!" He said, pointing at Nora. Nora smiled. "Yeah!" She said enthusiastically. Geoff jeered.

"What will she practice *burp* on?!" He asked, laughing.

Ray smiled. "HA! That's where I've got you! What did you think I was working on all that time?" He said, dramatically pulling a button out of his pocket. He clicked it, and Geoff was immediately silenced.

"Now, you see, the school supplied me with nothing, those racist bastards, but I had some stuff up my sleeve! Marvel at my creation!" He yelled over the sound of the ground splitting. Out of the uprooted dirt came a two huge buildings.

"My students will destroy this building!" Ray said. "Now, let's blaze!"


	3. Chapter 3: Training

Training

_*Wow I looked at my last, chapter, and I am truly sorry that you had to even see the amount of mistakes I had. It was atrocious, honestly. I definitely will be careful from now on. By the way, a little Michael and Gavin friendship in this chapter. I will __**not **__ship them, though, only portray their friendship._

"Now, let's blaze!" Ray yelled, pointing at the building. Nora smiled.

"My specialty." She replied, readying her launcher. She took a second to analyze the concrete buildings. Supported by pillars, two floors. (Albeit a very small second floor.) The building was very wide, though, it would most likely take 6-7 well placed grenades to take down the one building. Now knowing her strategy, Nora flipped into action. She quickly fired two grenades at a supporting pillar. It gave way, and the building started to teeter, but it would not be enough to knock it down. Before she could make another move, Ray stopped her.

"That was an ok shot, but you didn't have to waste two grenades." He turned around. "What were you doing?" He asked, looking at the faceless, nameless people. They merely shrugged. Ray hung his head in disappointment, and ran off to the side. Nora took this as a sign she could continue, and fired another grenade. It hit the supporting pillar on the right, and the building collapsed to one side. Nora finished off the rest of the building with another well-placed grenade for the remaining pillar. With the last of the building's foundation gone, it collapsed to the ground in a heap of dust. Nora turned around and basked in applaud, even from the Achieve Men. Except one, Ray. He sat with his arms crossed.

"It was good," He began. "But you should've only used three shots, not four." Ray said, pouting. Nora smiled.

"I think I did quite good!" She replied, fairly self-confidently. Ray shook his head.

"You wanna see good?" He asked rhetorically, pulling a large rose from his shirt pocket. "Stand back."

He spun the rose in his hand, and put it near his mouth. He whispered, "Blaze." And the rose was set alight. It burned with such fury, Nora could barely look at it without tearing up. Ray's eyes filled with fire, his face with much concentration. In one swift motion, he swiped the rose towards the remaining concrete building. A row of fire burst from the tip of his rose, and collided with the building, setting it on fire. A concrete building, on fire. The crowd began to applaud upon this feat, but Ray silenced them with a gesture of his hand.

"Wait." He said. After he said this, the building exploded into thousands of pieces. He smiled, turned to face the crowd, and bowed. The applause was monstrous. They had just witnessed a master at work. Finished with his demonstration, Ray extinguished his rose and placed it back in his pocket.

"Thank you. And thank you," He said, facing Nora, "For helping me out." Ray said, completely ignoring the faceless, nameless people. Nora saluted him, giggled, and ran back to sit with Ren. Ray bowed, and left his destroyed course to stand and watch with the others.

"That was good. But I think my group can do better!" Michael shot, beckoning his team to group. This group was particularly large, including no faceless, nameless people. It included Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Pyrrha, Jaune, and Cardin. The group huddled, similar to Ray's.

"Okay," Michael said. "I don't think we can do better. That was pretty badass what he did there." Ray heard this.

"Hmm?" He said mockingly.

Michael coughed. "Ahem. I mean, they sucked. We can do better. Okay… break!" The huddle was broken, and the group was left to face their opponents: cheap practice dummies. Ruby sighed.

"I can't impress him with this garbage!" She thought. Before she could complain any more, Michael interrupted with an ear-piercing whistle blow.

"Go!" He yelled. "Just Blaze! Or whatever! Ahh fuck it."

Within seconds, all of the dolls had been thrown across the field, or torn to pieces, except for Jaune's; he finished his a little later. Once all of them finished, they turned to face Michael. He stared back.

"What?" He shot at them. They all sighed and walked off the field in disappointment.

"What the fuck? _What the fuck? _Ahhh, fuck you. Party-poopers. Anyway, I'm going to show you all _my _skills!" He said, pulling out a diamond sword. Before he could do much, he was booed.

"Get off the field!" People yelled. Michael was truly taken aback.

"Why? What the fu…" He was about to cry manly tears when Gavin came to his side, standing tall.

"Leave my boi alone! He just wants to teach you!" Gavin said defiantly. Michael stared at Gavin as if he was a piece of bloodied cow meat.

"Are you… defending me?" He asked. Gavin nodded. Michael didn't know what to say.

"My boi!" He yelled, his arms open for embrace. Gavin gracefully accepted the embrace. What he's always wanted, his dreams, finally came true. They walked off the field together. Half of the crowd moaned, complaining, and half cheered. The Achieve Men merely rolled their eyes, Ray the most upset about this new friendship.

"I thought we were friends… Now you ditched me for the one you hate." Ray muttered under his breath. No one heard him. No one ever did.

Geoff calmed the audience down.

"We have no more time, guys. You gotta get to the next class. We'll continue this next time we meet. Or maybe not. I'm not sure. Whatever we feel like." He said. Everybody groaned. This class was quite fun, and many people wanted to go and prove themselves. Ruby sighed.

"That was kind of disappointing." She said as they walked back to the school. Yang punched her playfully.

"Eh, calm down. Little sis. I didn't get a chance either." She said. Weiss shook her head.

"That Michael guy, he's pretty… uhmmm… emotionally unstable, huh?" She said. Yang laughed.

"Yeah, that was weird. He usually treats Gavin like shit." She said. "Can't wait 'till next time, though!"

*_Ok, so what Geoff said, pretty accurate. I might write another chapter on the training, depending on the response I get. Anyway, just bear with me._


	4. Chapter 4: Q&A

Q&A

*_In this chapter, I'm going to write a little bit of sad stuff for Ray. You know, since now he's all sad in real life. (We all know why)_

It was Saturday morning. Yang, again, was already awake. She beckoned for the others to wake up.

"What this time?" Blake queried as Yang shook her awake.

"At lunch they'll be doing Q&A! It's 11:30, so get ready! " She told, her eyes widened with excitement. Weiss rolled her eyes.

"Why are you so obsessed? I mean _honestly_." She asked. Yang shook her head.

"They are amazing hunters! They're so funny too!" She replied, arms crossed in disappointment of the question. "Besides, be grateful we have someone new around here." Weiss sighed.

"I suppose." She said as everyone got changed. After everyone was changed and ready, Yang stood in front of them all as if she was the team leader.

"We have 30 minutes to get there, let's go!" She exclaimed, pointing out the door. The Team marched down the halls, before quickly realizing they were the only ones who were starting to go to the lunch room. Ruby pouted.

"We're the only ones, Yang." She pointed out. Yang smiled.

"I know, we'll have them all to ourselves!" She squealed in delight. Blake rolled her eyes, but remained silent as they trudged down the stairs into the hallway leading to the cafeteria. Yang gracefully opened the doors. On the other side was a large table, seating the six Achieve Men. A large, plain walkway led right to the table. No one else was in the cafeteria. The Achieve Men did not seem to notice Team RWBY's appearance, until Yang called out.

"Heyyo!" She yelled across the cafeteria. The six men looked around, trying to find the source of the sound before laying eyes upon Yang. They all moaned upon seeing her and her team. Yang ignored this and led her team to the table.

"Good morning." She said, slamming her hand on the table to catch their attention. "How's it doing?"

Geoff nervously pushed her hand away.

"We're good… You're almost a half hour early… Haha…" He replied, backing away from her.

Yang looked around at the men.

"Hmph. Q&A, huh? That's cool." She awkwardly said. Weiss but in.

"So, first question!" She started, getting right to business. "Gavin, why do you let Michael push you around?" She asked, actually wanting to know the answer. Michael looked at Gavin, as if daring him to make a wrong move.

"I don't know, I just think we're friends, but he just doesn't like to…to uh… to admit it." He nervously said. Michael nodded, and turned to face Weiss again. She had a concerned look on her face.

"Friends? I hardly think so." She replied, not expecting that answer. Michael stopped her.

"I'm on better terms with Gavin now, even though he still pisses me off sometimes." He told. Ray shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"We used to be best friends…" he muttered under his breath, so no one would hear.

Yang pulled up seats for her and her teammates across from the table the Achieve Men sat at. Geoff groaned once again at this.

"Why us?" He asked no one in particular.

Blake took a seat, and looked at Ryan, who paid no attention to anything around him. He merely continued to stroke and play talk his mini-moo. Blake decided to do the unthinkable.

"Ryan? Is it? Yes. I have a question for you." She began. Ryan cocked his head towards her creepily. "Where did you get that mini-moo?" Ryan nodded.

"Ok. You ask, I must answer. I see your little game. I got this mini-moo." He said, "When it came to me as a child. It has never left my side, and any attempts of freeing Edgar results in severe punishment." Michael slouched in his seat uncomfortably upon hearing these words. "He never runs. He always comes back."

Blake nodded, and quickly turned away from the Mad King. He went back to fondling his precious Edgar. Geoff sighed.

"What are you gonna do for twenty minutes?" He asked. Yang shrugged.

"I don't know. Sit here. Ask questions." She replied mockingly. Geoff quickly shot back.

"Then ask away!"

Ruby spoke up. "What are your weapons?" She asked. The six men jumped at this question, even Ryan. Geoff began.

"I have this shotgun." He said, taking a huge shotty out of his satchel. Ray went next.

"As you've seen, I use this rose." He told, smelling a rose he pulled out his shirt pocket. Michael went next.

"I have this beautiful diamond sword." He said, unsheathing a large blue-ish sword. Ruby marveled at it.

"So pretty…" Jack laughed.

"I use my fists. I don't use weapons." He said, arms crossed. Weiss nodded, impressed.

"Fairly impressive." She said. Ryan shook his head.

"I use my mind… Only fools would waste energy using a weak weapon, when you have one right here." He said, pointing to his head. Gavin then pulled a bow from his back.

"They don't call me Mark Nutt for nothing!" He said, admiring his own bow. Ruby nodded.

"They're all very nice." She said as the Achieve Men sat down.

"Thank you." They all replied in unison.

An awkward silence prevailed. Everyone looked around the room awkwardly, not knowing what to say. Then Gavin spoke up.

"Well, since you have no questions for us, can we ask you a couple? I'll start. Why are you so obsessed with us?" He asked, pointing at Yang. She blushed.

"Honestly, I just really love you guys. You're all so funny, and when I see you on TV kicking ass and all that, I look up to you." She confessed. Michael laughed.

"Looking up to us may not be the best choice." He replied. Yang shrugged.

"Eh, who cares? You're great fighters, that's all I care about." Yang simply said. Weiss rolled her eyes.

"Character plays a role." She reminded Yang. Yang merely shook her head.

"And they've got great character." She proudly replied. Geoff nodded, and faced his comrades.

"I think I like this girl more and more by the minute." He said. The others nodded. Weiss crossed her arms and remaimed silent. "Oh! Holy shit, we've only got 5 minutes left until the period starts! Gavin! You were supposed to remind us! That was your job today!" Geoff yelled. Gavin shrunk in his seat, as Michael turned on him.

"You never fail to screw up, do you? You idiot!" Michael screamed. Weiss flung her arms.

"There's the Michael we all know and love..." she muttered. Yang quickly got the chairs and moved them back to their original spots, and with barely a second left the students poured into the cafeteria. Yang wiped some sweat off her forehead, and smile at her friends very suspiciously. A crowd then began to form around the table. It was tried to calm the crowd down, to no avail.

"Hey! Just drop your questions in the box! We'll answer it later! Just... no! Don't touch Ryan's mini-moo!" He said hopelessly. Yang smiled.

"Lucky we got their first, huh?"

*_You better be grateful I even wrote this. I wrote this on a tablet. It was a pain in the ass, I tell you. Be damn grateful._


	5. Chapter 5: The Emerald Forest

The Emerald Forest

*_I am sad to announce that I will have to change the names of The Achieve Men, per rules of . The new names are as follow:_

_Ray: Junior _

_Michael: Mike_

_Geoff: Jeff (So clever, huh)_

_Jack: Jay_

_Gavin: Gav_

_And finally Ryan: The Mad King, of course._

_Now, enjoy the story. Sorry for the delay, school work and all, won't give you a sob story, but just know I delayed the chapters for a reason. (Oh yeah, warning, some brutal and somewhat descriptive beowolf deaths in this chapter.)_

The girls had gotten so used to being woken up early by Yang, they had gotten up before even she did. Ruby, Weiss, and Blake all stood around Yang's bed, waiting for her to wake. They had sick smiles painted on their faces. Suddenly, Yang jolted up. She did not expect to see the girls awake, and jumped at the sight of them.

"Umm… Hi…?" Yang greeted, looking around.

"Oh, hello, Yang, did we interrupt you?" Ruby asked mockingly. The other girls laughed. Yang blushed.

"No, actually. I was going to wake you." She admitted. Weiss nodded.

"Oh, I see. And what for, exactly?" She questioned.

"Today we're going into the Emerald Forest! They're going to show us how to _fight!" _Yang answered, suddenly energetic. The others were even excited. This would certainly make for an interesting trip.

"Well, then, when is it?" Blake asked Yang, who was getting changed. Yang stopped what she was doing, and thought for a moment.

"I believe… 10:00?" She replied, resuming changing. Weiss looked at her watch, and face palmed.

"It's 10:00 right now! We'll be late!" She exclaimed. Yang's eyes widened as if her life had been thrown away from her. Without a word, she dashed out of the room. The other girls quickly followed. They ran through the halls of Beacon, pushing others out of the way, finally reaching the staircase. Yang and the others skipped over the entire set of stairs and quickly ran outside onto the courtyard. Yang, now outside, took a moment to survey the grounds, and find out where they were. Once she knew their location, she dashed towards where (She believed) was the Emerald Forest. And before they knew it, there the entrance was. In the distance they could hear the voices of students. The girls looked at each other, nodded, and ran towards the voices. Within a minute, they saw the Achieve Men being followed by a crowd of people. Yang called out at them, waving. Jeff turned around.

"Oh, I thought you guys wouldn't show up, since you're always early." He said mockingly. The girls brushed him off, and took a spot in the crowd.

"So what's this about?" Weiss asked Gav.

"Oh, we're going to fight some beowolves and such, you know." He answered. Weiss nodded. Junior noticed them talking, and turned around, smirking.

"Oooooh, I see a little _romance, no?_" She said, laughing. Weiss blushed.

"You immature dunce…" She shot back. Junior laughed again.

"Eh, calm down." He told her, turning around. "Oh, we're here." They had reached an opening in the trees. It was somewhat like an arena, where all the trees were cleared out to create a circle in the middle. Blake pouted.

"I don't see any beowolves…" She muttered. Jeff silenced her.

"Wait…"

A moment of silence.

Then, growls were heard, and red eyes could be seen poking from the bushes. A beowolf emerged, and all the Achieve Men got in stance. The Mad King held them back.

"I got this. Stay." He ordered. The others nodded and put their weapons down. The Mad King stood and faced his opponent. He cocked his head to the side creepily, looking into his opponent's eyes. The beowolf, intimidated, whimpered and tried to run. The Mad King laughed.

"Come back here." He said, and with that he pointed one index finger at the running beowolf. It froze in it's tracks, and began to howl. It was paralyzed. The Mad King laughed, and swiped his finger to the side. The beowolf slammed into a nearby tree. The crack of a broken bone pierced the sky, and blood was painted on the tree. The Mad King smirked, and rolled his hand into a fist. The beowolf suddenly was crushed like a can, blood spewing everywhere.. The Mad King released his grip. The beowolf did not get up.

No one had said anything throughout this, they were all too shocked to even mutter a word. The Mad King walked back to his place next to Gav silently. Jeff interrupted the awkward silence.

"That's the Mad King for ya. Quite brutal." He said, shaking his head. The Mad King laughed.

"Yes. Quite." He replied. Upon these words, shivers went down the spines of the spectators. The Mad King was as mad as they say.

Jay, breaking the silence, walked in front of the crowd, chest in the air.

"I'll go next." He stated simply. He turned around to the clearing, and sat with his arms crossed, until an Ursa Major popped it's head out. The crowd gasped, but Jay settled them.

"I got this." He told them, balling his hands, wrapped with bandages, into a fist. The Ursa stared at Jay, who took the first move. Jay dashed towards the huge bear, and only inches away from it, feinted to the side. The Ursa, not fast enough for Jay, suffered a blow to it's liver, and was sent flying across the clearing. IT bashed into a tree, and shook it's head to recover. Jay attempted another strike, at the Ursa's face, but was foiled. The Ursa, this time, had reacted quickly, and swiped Jay to the side. The crowd gasped. Jay silenced them with a gesture of his hand. He got up.

"I'm fine." He said, readying his fists again. The Ursa, now feeling confident, ran towards Jay. Jay smiled and did an action roll away. The Ursa, caught by surprise, looked around. It caught sight of Jay, just as his fist sunk into the side of its face. It was knocked clean off it's feet. Jay, seeing his opportunity, jumped on top of the fallen Ursa, and swung at its face multiple times. The Ursa, within a few seconds, was dead. Jay hopped off the Ursa, and took a look at his work. Under his breath, he muttered, "I'm sorry." He was a very sensitive person, but no one heard him apologize. He was welcomed with applause, unlike The Mad King, who got none out of pure shock from the crowd. Jay bowed, enjoying the attention, and walked back to stand by Jeff. Yang nodded, impressed.

"Pretty good. It wasn't too brutal, either." She said, looking at The Mad King.

Junior then stood up in front of the crowd.

"Hey, I believe it's time for _me _to go." He said, pulling his rose out of his shirt pocket and lighting it. Almost immediately after finishing his sentence, a pack of beowolves appeared behind him. He sensed this from the crowd's reaction, and snapped around. Junior smirked.

"Prepare… to be _**blazed!"**_ He yelled. The beowolves , not too intimidated by a rose, ran towards Junior. He quickly rolled out of the way of the pack, and swiped his rose. A fire ball was sent hailing towards one of five beowolves. It did not have much time to react, and the fireball exploded on its fur. It caught fire, and flailed around until it burned to death. It's comrades looked at its burnt corpse, horrified. They were not discouraged, and charged at Junior again.

"Tssk, tssk, bad choice." He said mockingly, swiping his rose once again. A second beowolf ate shit, and was engulfed in flames. The other three stopped dead in their tracks, realizing their mistake to attack Junior. They turned back to run away. Junior laughed, lazily swiping his rose. A circle of fire surrounded the beowolves. They were trapped. Junior contemplated for a moment, as if deciding what their death should be. He came to a decision, and swiped his rose downwards. The wall of fire began to enclose the beowolves. Within seconds, the rest of the pack became engulfed, dying a fiery death. Junior turned to face the crowd, and was welcomed by an uproar of applause. It was quite amazing that he took on five beowolves with no support, and not be damaged at all. He took his spot next to Mike, a smirk on his face.

*_Hope you enjoyed! Sorry for the name change, but thing have to be done about it. Again, I'm also sorry for the delay of chapter release. Anyway, as always, review, review, review! If you review, I may decide to post __**daily!**_


	6. Chapter 6: The Emerald Forest, Part 2

The Emerald Forest, Part 2

_*So many complaints about name change! I'm sorry, but someone had reported the story for usage of real names, and I received a message from , and if I had not changed the name, my story would be deleted and my account suspended. I'd rather lose a couple of readers than lose my story. _

_P.S Jack has been changed to Jay._

Mike, chest held up high, walked in front of the audience.

"Ahem. Hello, Beacon. Prepare to get your little tiny fucking schnozzles blown. I will demonstrate my ability," He said, pulling out a diamond sword, "With my baby, Mogar the Sword." 

The crowd received this well, and applauded for Mike. This would certainly be interesting. Mike gracefully turned on his heel, and walked towards the center of the clearing. For what felt like hours, all was silent. Then, out of the bushes, came two burly Ursa. Mike smiled, cracking his neck dramatically.

"Prepare, beasts… _to meet my motherfucking blade!" _He yelled, beginning to charge toward the first Ursa. It was surprised by Mike completely disregarding his own safety, and barely got ready for the first strike, which had sliced its arm. Mike laughed. 

"Couldn't react, little bear?" He taunted in a mocking voice. The other Ursa, looking at his bleeding partner, began to run towards Mike. Mike, ready for an act of vengeance like this, flipped clean over the beast, leaving it disoriented.

"Tssk, tssk. Shouldn't have done that." He said, sinking his sword into the nape of the bear's neck. The Ursa collapsed to the ground. It had died immediately following the strike. Mike, now fueled by confidence, turned to face the remaining Ursa, whose arm had been damaged so much that it would not have been able to even move it.

"Hey, big guy," Mike taunted. "Why don't you come and try to charge at me_?" _He ordered, cleaning blood off of his precious diamond sword. He brandished it mockingly. The Ursa, exploding with fury, complied with Mike's order and began to charge. Mike smirked. As the Ursa neared him, he got into stance. As the huge bear came inches to him, Mike slid in between the Ursa's legs and behind it. He had a perfect shot, but decided to prolong the battle. Mike allowed the Ursa to turn around. Fury in its eyes, the Ursa swung widly at Mike.

Mike jumped and ducked, managing to dodge every single strike. Fire filling Mike's body, he struck the Ursa's already damaged arm. His blade swiped through the remaining flesh and bone. Where had once been an arm, now only a stump remained. The Ursa looked with a shocked expression at its wound. It turned around with enough time to see Mike's face one last time, before having its head swiped off. Mike smiled, and bowed. The crowd roared with applause, almost as much as Junior's feat. Even Weiss seemed impressed.

"Hmmph. Taking on two Ursas and remaining unscathed? That's actually quite impressive." She said.

Mike walked back into the crowd, taking his place next to Gavin. He wiped a bead of sweat on his forehead dramatically. Ruby nearly fainted. 

"He was _sooooo _good! Holy crap!" She exclaimed, nearly pissing herself in excitement.

Gav was up next. Michael had pushed him into the clearing.

"Uhmm… 'ello, I suppose. Well, I have this," He said, holding out his bow. "From my great great ancestor, Mark Nutt. So, prepare to be-_OWWWWW!" _

Gavin had not noticed the beowolf sitting on the tree above him. It had jumped from the tree and clawed at Gav, doing minor damage.

Gav, recovering from the ambush, prepared his bow. He looked around, spotted the beowolf that had attacked him, and fired an arrow with unmatched speed. The beowolf took the arrow, and fell to the ground. Suddenly, out of the bush, came another beowolf. Gav, turning to face it, took one shot, which hit the beowolf square in the eye. The crowd roared in applause. His accuracy was quite astonishing. Gav, turned around to face the crowd, had not noticed the beowolf creeping up behind him until the crowd had pointed it out for him. Not even looking behind him, Gav backflipped over the beowolf,and mid-air, fired an arrow, striking the wolf in the back of the head. It fell to the floor with a _thump. _This routine of beowolf comes out, beowolf dies, proceeded for close to 20 minutes, before Gave nearly fell from exhaustion.

"I-I think I'm done, eh?" He puffed. Jeff went to pick him up.

"Yeah buddy, you're done," He said, throwing Gav back to the crowd. "Now, it's my turn." He said, pulling out a shotgun.

"Come on you wolf bastards!" He yelled into the sky. Within seconds of his cry, an Ursa crept from the trees. Jeff stood back.

"Wow, you're big as dicks." He said, taking one look at the magnificent beast. "Eh, too bad I'll have to KILL YOU!"

With that, he pointed his shotgun at the Ursa, and pulled the trigger. A small pop could be heard, and a cartoon-ish flag bearing the words 'bang' came from the barrel. Jeff pouted.

"Damn. Wrong shotgun." He muttered, before being struck to his knees. Jeff got up slowly, but was fine; the blow from the Ursa was bearable. He put the dummy shotgun back in place and pulled out a new one.

"Say hello to my little friend!" He yelled, pointing the shotgun at the Ursa once again. He fired. This time, a loud bang could be heard, followed by the explosion of the Ursa's head. Jeff bowed, but knew better than to walk back to the crowd just yet. More Grimm would surely appear. And what do you know, a troop of beowolves appeared from the bush. Jeff placed his shotgun back into its holster, and pulled out two pistols. Going for precision as well as speed, Jeff analyzed the beowolves. Four of them. All the generic, normal kind. This would be easy. He aimed his guns forward, took a breath, and fired four times. Four bullets, four new bodies on the ground. Jeff bowed, allowing the crowd to applause. But instead of applause, a deep rumbling noise filled everyone's ears. Everyone stood in silence, trying to decipher the sound. It came closer and closer, until finally a Deathstalker and a King Taijitu emerged from the trees. The crowd screamed, but were reassured.

"We can handle this." All six of the Achieve Men chanted together.


	7. Chapter 7: The Scorpion and The Snake

The Scorpion and the Snake, Part 1

The Achieve Men all stood facing the two magnificent creatures, the Deathstalker and the King Taijitu, the scorpion and the snake. Mike laughed, grinning fiercely.

"Here's hoping a Nevermore doesn't show up." He muttered. Jeff nodded.

"Let's *hic* hope." He repeated.

"How are we going to handle this?" Jay asked, looking at Jeff.

"Hmmm. I say we handle this with a little bit of splitting up, eh?" He started. "Break into Lads and Gents formation, just as we practiced!" With that, the six men broke into two teams. Yang screamed.

"The Lads and Gents formation! Genius!" She yelled.

"Okay. Gents handle the Deathstalker, Lads handle the Taijitu." Jeff commanded. The others nodded, and moved in front of their respective opponents.

"_Let's Blaze!" _

With that, the two teams jumped into action.

The Lads fight

"_Let's Blaze!" _

Gav took an arrow from his quiver, and without saying a word fired an arrow at the Taijitu's eye. The huge snake merely moved out of the way, and dodged the arrow. Gav pouted. He rarely missed.

"Guys. I-I missed!" He shouted. Junior calmed him.

"Allow me to do what you couldn't." He said mockingly. He swiped his rose at the grass, and fire from the ground below him propelled him upwards. Now face to face with the Taijitu, Junior smiled, and with one sweeping motion, flames jutted themselves from his rose out onto the Taijitu's face. Junior had hit the snake. It quickly shook off the attack, and the white half of it poked it's head from the side. The white half, seeing the black half was injured, took vengeance and snapped at Junior, who was not able to dodge the attack. His leg had been caught in its teeth, and his aura certainly took a toll as he plummeted to the ground.

"Woah! You okay, Junior?" Mike asked as Junior stood crippled on the ground. 

"Ugh…." Was all Junior could manage as he stuck his hand out to the sky dramatically.

"Ah, fuck you, you damn pansy." Mike said, not too impressed. He got up, and faced the Taijitu. The black half had suffered quite a lot from Junior's flames, and a scar had already made an appearance on its face. Mike chuckled. He jumped into action, digging his sword into the snake's belly as he swiped around it. He was now on the Taijitu's back. 

"I got you now!" He exclaimed as he ran up the back of the black half. He leaped onto the head of the beast.

"Prepare to die, foul beast!" Mike yelled. A good victory could not go without a one-liner; that was his philosophy. He dug his sword into the black half's skull. A small squeal came from its mouth, and it fell to the ground. Mike gracefully landed, wiping dust off his shoulders. Gav clapped.

"Bravo! Now for my turn." Gav took a bow from his quiver, and once again fired, only this time at the white half's eye. It hit its mark, and the Taijitu's eye was rendered useless. Gav cheered.

"Come off it, lads, you can hit this little pleb without it being too much of a pest!" He yelled. Junior and The others nodded, and turned around, to be met with the white half chewing off the black half. They all stared at it in awe.

"For a wolf to survive, it must chew off… its own leg." Mike quoted. "Don't let it get it off! It'll be faster that way! Junior, try to get it to stop!" Junior nodded, and ran off to the beast.

He fired his rose at the snake, burning its face, but proved useless, as the snake was concentrated on getting the leg off. It barely flinched. Before they knew it, the black half was off. The Taijitu looked up, blood covering its face. It hissed at Junior.

"Junior, get away from there! It's regenerating its limb!" Gav yelled. Junior complied, and ran back to the Lads. The Taijitu had indeed grown back its half, except it was now only one. It was one huge, white-colored Taijitu. It was Yin and Yang, only without Yin. The snake gave a sickly smile, and snapped at the group. It was now much faster, and the Lads barely dodged it.

"It's faster now! Without the black half…" Mike muttered. "Just fight it, come on. Gav. Oh Gav. Just provide covering fire. Make sure to uh… to hit it if it poses a danger for us. Junior and I will attack."

Gav nodded, and Mike and Junior went into action. Junior took the liberty of having first strike, and fired a hail of fireballs at the beast. The Taijitu dodged, but was not able to slip past all of the fireballs. While it was distracted with Junior's ploy, Mike had began to charge up its back once again. He landed on top of its head, and Mike lifted his sword, preparing to strike and finish it as he had with the black half. He was stunned when the Taijitu shook him off, aware of what Mike was going to do. He hit the ground hard. Gav rushed towards him, and helped him up.

"My boy! You ok?"

Mike shook him off. "I'm fine." He said. Gav frowned. "Thanks for helping me up, boy." 

"W-what? You called me boy?! Wow! Uhmm… yeah, no problem, for helping you up." Gav shouted back at Mike, who was now charging at the beast again. Gav, now having a new source of confidence, took an arrow from his quiver. He placed it into his bow, and aimed at the beast's other eye. He shot. It hit the Taijitu, blinding it once and for all. The beast shook it's head violently, and coincidentally, Junior had been on top of its head. He went flying off, hitting a tree with such force that it was knocked over. Gav gasped.

"Junior!" He yelled, running over to the fallen tree.

"What the heck happened?" Junior asked, dazed. "I just… flew off."

Gav blushed.

"Yeah, it just… uhm… freaked out. Yeah. The damn thing! Haha!" He lied. 

Junior shook his head. "Well damn, my aura's in the red. Mike will have to do this himself. I'm feeling damn sick." He told Gav, checking his scroll. Gav turned around. Mike was still in combat with the Taijitu, who was now working only with sound. Mike jumped up at the beast, whom had cocked it head down for a moment, and took a slice at its neck. It roared, jerking its head back up. Its eyes and neck were now bleeding profusely. 

"Yeah! _GOOOO MIKE_!" Gav yelled. Mike turned, a nasty and hostile look on his face.

"You fucking bastard." He mouthed. Gav cowered. So he saw it. That's not good.

The Taijitu sensed its death, and looked like it had given up. Its attacks were now slower. Mike took his chance, and with one clean swipe, sliced off the head of the Taijitu. The crowd cheered. Mike bowed, but quickly got up. He pointed at Gav.

"_YOU FUCKING MORON!_"

_*Next time on __**The Achieve Men!**__  
_

_Will the Gents defeat the Deathstalker? Or will they give in and __**DIE**__? Also, will Mike have an aneurism? Tune in next time to find out!_


	8. Chapter 8: Team Gents!

Team Gents

*_Warning, big author's note coming up. I have three points to address._

_1. Due to a massive amount of complaints through the PM system, I will be changing the names back. But, one thing must be clear: Do __**NOT **__report my story; else the story will be deleted._

_2. I have received a small amount of reviews stating that I over exaggerate some features. To this I say that I do this for writing purposes. In my opinion, it makes the characters a *teensy* bit more original, and not just complete copies of their real-life counterpart. When you read a political cartoon, do you say, 'oh, the artist should not over exaggerate like that?' I overexagerrate because I feel it necessary to make the characters identifiable, yet a bit original._

_3. I was hand-picked by and admin to be showcased in the community __**Best of RWBY Fanfiction. **__I am very grateful for this, and cannot express my gratitude to the admins and the people who gave their time to review my story, whether it was a good or bad review. Well, enjoy the story._

"Formation!" Geoff yelled, signaling Jack and Ryan to go at his side. The three men stood side-by-side, facing the magnificent beast. "Ryan, blind it."

Ryan nodded. "I can only blind it temporarily, but I'll do as you say." With that, he moved his hand up in the air. Ryan then quickly pulled his hand down, and the Deathstalker twitched uncomfortably. Suddenly, its eyes had been clouded with a white fog. It kept its cool, and remained still, using its ears in place of its eyes. Geoff nodded at Jack, trying to keep silent. Jack took it as a sign to attack, and with quite a lot of quickness for his size, dashed at the Deathstalker. He had mounted it, and now had a clear strike. He sunk his fist into its armor, attempting to get a grip on it as it buckled around, trying to get its enemy off its back. But Jack's grip proved tenacious, and he remained on the back of the beast. Now having a good hold, Jack began to pound at the armor of the beast incessantly. After a plethora of strikes, the part of the armor Jack had punched finally gave and was shattered to pieces. Jack jumped off of the Deathstalker, and rejoined with the others.

"I…I took out a part of its… its armor." He wheezed, trying to catch his breath. His hand, which had been bleeding from punching so hard, had healed from his aura. "Wooh. That thing sure knows what its doing!" Ryan nodded.

"Eh, I could do better." He said, walking towards the beast. "Oh, such a beautiful creature. Too bad I must destroy you."

Ryan clenched his hand into a fist, and the Deathstalker was lifted off its feet. Ryan's face was contorted in concentration, for it took a lot of energy to take on a beast of the Deathstalker's magnitude. He opened his fist, and the scorpion came crashing to the ground. It lay there for a moment, caught in its own dust. The Deathstalker then stood up, and looked around, having regained its sight. It caught eye of Ryan, and did a mad dash towards him. Ryan's eyes widened, and with barely a second left used his semblance to propel himself upward. Ryan had noticed something as he had a birds-eye view of the beast. Its back leg had suffered major damage from Ryan's attack, and the Deathstalker was now dragging it along. That would certainly slow it down. Ryan was proud to have done something to help. Snapping back to reality, he landed on the beast, but immediately jumped off. If he and Edgar were to live through this, he must be careful.

Suddenly, a small squeal came from Ryan's cage. Edgar had been shaken up by the fight. Ryan immediately tended to the Mini-moo, sweet-talking it and calming it down. Geoff shook his head.

"I suppose it's my turn, if you two are already done." He pulled out two pistols (with mini0bayonet attachments), and ran towards the Deathstalker. It got into stance, preparing for attack. Geoff, already having a plan beforehand, slid under the beast, now exposing its underbelly, the weak area of many creatures of Grimm. He stuck his blade into its soft stomach, And the scorpion cried out. Geoff then shot an entire mag into the beasts pierced stomach. Blood was splayed all over Geoff, as he pulled his bayonets out of the Deathstalker. Geoff began to crawl back out of the underbelly, but was foiled by the beast's stinger. It was guarding the exit, making sure Geoff would not leave. He groaned.

"Damn!" He muttered. The Scorpion would crush him as soon as he regained his strength, and not even his strong aura would be able to take that. The others must save him.

"_I got you, Geoff!" _Came Ryan's muffled voice. "Jack, distract it! It'll be more effective if it's not resisting."

Geoff cheered. "Haha!" 

Suddenly, the Deathstalker raised up in the air, allowing Geoff to run from underneath it. 

"Damn, Geoff, that's a lot of damage, huh." Jack shouted. Geoff nodded.

"Did my best. Thanks, guys." Geoff replied. Ryan nodded, and grunted incomprehensibly, for he was too focused on keeping the beast up. His eyes suddenly lighting, Ryan once again slammed the beast to the ground. The ground was painted with blood, and the beast lay still for a moment. It seemed they had won, but the beast got up once again, now bloodied and limping. 

"It's persistent. Grimm are pretty stupid." Jack said. The others nodded, and Jack took point, leading the team in a charge towards the beast. The Deathstalker prepared its stinger. The three neared the beast, and Geoff and Jack had feinted out of the way, trying to get to an open spot. Ryan had made the mistake of trying to take the beast head-on. He was planning to blind it once again, but was foiled when its stinger slashed at his arm. He screamed in pain, and was forced to his knees. Jack quickly picked him up and moved him out of the way, sparing him from another hit.

"My aura's gone. That stuff is poison to one's soul." Ryan muttered. Jack nodded slowly and suspiciously. He was looking at Ryan nervously. "Huh…? What's…Why are you staring at me?"  
Jack hung his head, and pointed towards Ryan's belt. Edgar's cage had been torn in half, and all that remained of the animal once inside was a pile of blood. Ryan's eyes widened, mad as ever. He bottom lip quivered. An expression of true fury painted his face. He got up slowly, and faced the beast.

"Geoff. Get away." Ryan shouted. Geoff turned around.

"Why?" He asked.

"_Because I fucking said so, Geoff." _Ryan said, a menacing tone filling his voice. Geoff nodded, and slowly backed away from the creature. Ryan raised his hand, closed his eyes, and pulled away. The stinger of the Deathstalker flew off, now under control of Ryan. Ryan opened his eyes, now bloodshot, and Stuck the stinger into the beast. It had died immediately from that strike, but Ryan's pure wrath did not simply stop after that. Once again he raised his hand over his head, and the beast rose. He took his other hand, and slowly made a ripping gesture, like he was tearing paper. The beast's legs popped off, and soon after its body was torn into two pieces. Ryan flung his arms, and the now parted beast flew across the forest. The crowd gasped. Geoff laid a hand on Ryan's shoulder.

"Ryan, buddy, these are only kids. Don't be so brutal." He told Ryan. Ryan shook his head, and walked back into the crowd silently, taking his seat next to the already-done Team Lads.


	9. Chapter 9: Edgar's Demise

Edgar's demise

_*I got reported. So eh, gotta change names again. But hey, I got a solution, so stay put. My *genius* solution is to merely change the last name of the characters, keep the first name. Name changes can be found at the footnote of the story. _

_Cheers!_

Ryan sat with his head in his hands, his hair rustled and uneven. His beard had begun to grow wildly, and he looked like a lightless man. His eyes were dark and empty. Geoff frowned.

"Hey buddy, why not get a drink? It'll make you feel better!" Geoff suggested, holding a drink out. Ryan shook his head, and took the bottle. "That's it, buddy!" 

But just as Geoff handed the bottle to Ryan, it was thrown against the wall. Geoff stared in awe at Ryan.

"What the fuck, man? That was an _expensive _bottle!" He yelled, trying to cup the remains in his hand. Geoff slammed his fist on the ground in frustration. "Ryan, you can't stay like this."

Ryan once again shook his head. "Get out." He shot. Geoff walked out of the room, a bit angry. Ryan sat in the dorm, thinking. His childhood friend, Edgar, had been torn right out of his hand. How foolish could he have been, thinking Edgar wouldn't be injured in such a fight, lest _die? _He thought back to all the things the others said about the mini-moo.

"_Look, Ryan, that things gonna fucking die one day. Good luck coping with that." _

"_Edgar's a joke, bro, get rid of it. The poor thing!"_

"_Free Edgar 2013! Let's get it going! The cow needs rights!"  
_Ryan clenched his fists. The others never understood his relationship with Edgar, and never would. Edgar had been through so much with Ryan.

"_Whoa, look at this!" 10 year-old Ryan shouted to his peers, pointing at a lone mini-moo. His classmates quickly rushed to see it. Ryan picked it up in his hands. "My new friend…" Ryan muttered. One child was taken aback by this. "W-what about me?" He asked. Ryan turned his head, his eyes narrow and cold. "I don't like you, Tommy. I have a new friend, and together, we'll rise through the ranks of the world!" _

Ryan chuckled. He was quite an ambitious child.

"_Hmmm…Edgar? How's that?" 10 year-old Ryan asked the cow. The mini-moo merely stared at Ryan with wide eyes, then after a moment, let out a hefty __**"Mooooo!"**__Ryan, being 10 and all, took this as a yes. "Edgar it is!" _

Michael opened the door to the dorm. 

"You okay, man?" He asked, peaking his head from the door. Ryan looked up. He nodded, and gestured for Michael to leave. Michael nodded, and shut the door slowly. Ryan had been deep in thought. He must bring back Edgar. Somehow. He stood up and stretched. Tonight would be a long night.

_2:00 AM, Achieve Men dorm._

Ryan groaned. Dozens of books lay scattered across the desk. Such hard work, so many notes. He had been trying to find out how to reanimate Edgar, and recapture his soul from the next world. It+ would be quite a feat if he pulled it off. It would also feed off of the very life force of Ryan if he attempted it, and it would certainly take some years off of his life-span. Something of this caliber has never been attempted before, for no one wanted to risk death. Many books told of how to pull off a resurrection, but none mentioned any attempts. Ryan read through piles and piles of books, trying to figure out the best way to handle this. He finally found it, in a book titled '_Can the dead live again?' _The book mentioned an artifact that had amazing healing powers, and could even piece together a completely severed body. It could even capture a soul and bind it to a body. This ancient artifact was only a myth, and is said to have been created by the ancient, and now deceased Pimponians. The tale was as follows:

The Pimponian race was at war with the Faunus, and were now nearing complete termination. The race was very advanced, and had unbelievably strong auras. One day, as the Pimponian council realized their demise was near, called together a meeting of the people with the strongest auras. Two dozen people showed up to the council. It was decided that their aura power would need to be preserved, for they knew they had amazing talent. The solution was to divert all power into a tower of gold, as one would activate an aura for another person. Once this procedure had finished, the tower was found to have amazing healing abilities. The Pimponians decided it was too strong to let out into the world, and put it into hiding. They named it The Tower of Pimp.

Ryan smirked. "A solution to my problem… Now how to trick the others into helping me find this Tower of Pimp… Hmmm…" He sat propped up on one elbow, thinking fiercely. His mind had been racing from all the excitement, and had not seen Jack walk in.

"Hey, Ryan- What's going on?"

Ryan turned around. "Just doing some research…" He replied. 

"On what…?" Jack asked, suspicion in his eyes.

"Just how to make us even stronger." Ryan answered. He had hit the weak spot. The only thing someone with power would want was more power.

"Really? Hmmm…" Jack muttered, now interested. "We do need to get stronger. We've kind of gone a little meh over the years. What is this thing that'll help us?"

Ryan smirked. "Thought you would never ask." He brought the book to Jack, and pointed his notes out. Jack read, nodded every now and then.

"Hmmm… Hey guys, come over here!" Jack yelled into the next room, wanting to start. "It'll give us healing powers. Probably even a stronger aura!"

Ryan laughed silently in his head.

_I've got them. Now they'll want to help me get more power…. But in reality, I am using them to resurrect Edgar!_

Ryan felt no pity for his group, as he watched their eyes fill with delight at what they thought would give them more power.

_*Don't have to read this, but here goes. The names are as follows:  
_

_Ryan Heyman_

_Ray Navaro Jr._

_Geoff Ramsii_

_Gavin Hope_

_Jack Panini_

_Michael Jonesy  
_

_There! Problem solved. As you can see, these guys are in no way affiliated with the Achievement Hunters. *Wink, Wink*_


	10. Chapter 10: Locating The Tower

Locating The Tower

_*This is most likely going to be a short chapter, I'm on a school laptop (No internet at home, snowstorm and all) So I legit have 30-40 minutes to write this. Sorry._

Ryan and the five Achieve Men sat in a circle, books piling over their head. Their eyes were cloudy from fatigue. They had pulled an all-nighter trying to find the location of The Tower of Pimp.

"It says here… That…" Gavin stuttered. Suddenly, he fainted and lay sprawled on the ground. Ryan shook his head, and grabbed the book from Gavin's hands.

"Let's see… Oh. It says here that scholars think the most likely area the Pimponians hid the tower was in or around The Famous Altar of Pimp." He told.

"Where is that?" Geoff asked, just barely remaining awake. Ryan looked into the book again. He slammed his fist in frustration.

"Damn! It' in Weoeras! Across the fucking ocean." He cursed. The others hung their head.

"Old Ozpin'll never let us all the way over there." Jack pointed out. Ryan rolled his eyes.

"We don't have to tell him. It's not like he checks up on us, and none of the students will miss us." Ryan said, smiling. Jack pouted.

"I don't know… Those Team RWBY girls would probably notice, and I heard they were close with Ozpin…" Jack replied. Ryan shrugged.

"It won't matter, guys, come on. We'll head off next week, eh? Its only one boat trip away." He told. Jack nodded, but didn't look too convinced.

"I'll trust you on this one, Ryan…" Jack said. Ryan chuckled.

"Great!" He spat. Gavin jolt awake upon Ryan's cheerful words.

"Didn't Edgar just die? Ryan… Why are you so happy all of a sudden?" He asked suspiciously. Ryan, being the prestigious liar he was, brushed it off.

"I'm just so happy to get more power to help others, you know! Plus… I don't need Edgar!" He barely got the words out of his mouth. _I don't need Edgar. _Complete lie. Edgar was his inspiration, his motivation to fight, his only friend. The others dropped their jaws upon hearing these unspeakable words.

"You're over him?! Already? Shit, Ryan, didn't think you would ever get over that fucking mini-moo." Geoff told, impressed by Ryan.

"Yeah, Ryan, good for you. #FreeEdgar2013 is complete! The poor soul is now free!" Ray cheered. Ryan nodded slowly. He felt like choking all of them.

_The poor soul. He was happy with me. I'll show them… but I can't blow my cover._

Ryan thought, yelling in his own head. He gave a weak smile at Ray, and immediately dug his nose back in the book.

Suddenly, the door jolted open. Yang stood at the other side, hands on her hips.

"_Heeelllooooo!_ Whatcha doing?" She barged. Michael rolled his eyes.

"It's rude to intrude." He spat at her. She smiled.

"What, were you doing something _inappropriate? _Come on, why can't I barge in if you're all boring buffoons! I'm obviously not interrupting much, anyway," She replied, looking at the pile of books in disgust. "You still didn't answer my question, anyway. Whatcha doing?"

Michael slammed the book on the floor violently.

"We're…. Researching…." He told her through gritted teeth. She grinned.

"Oh, cool! Whatcha studying?" She asked, peaking her head over the books. Michael immediately closed the book.

"Nothing. Where's your friends, anyway? Shouldn't you be with _them?" _He asked. Yang shook her head.

"Nah, they're asleep. I'm always awake early." She replied. Ryan closed his eyes.

"Just…get… out." He muttered. Yang was taken aback.

"Woah, man, calm down." She said jokingly. Ryan sighed.

"We're working, please leave." He repeated. Yang eyes Ryan curiously, nodded, and left. Ryan shook his head.

"Interfering with our work." He muttered under his breath. Jack watched as Yang left the room.

"Ryan, didn't have to be so harsh, man. What's gotten into you?" Jack asked. Ryan looked up, and smiled.

"Nothing. I'm fine."

4 days later

Ryan held up a crapload of documents in his hand.

"Our papers to go to Weoeras!" He shouted excitedly at the group.

"Pipe down, Ryan, geez. Someone might hear." Geoff advised. Ryan shrugged.

"Sorry, man, I'm just so excited to get a hold of this tower!" He cheered. Jack shushed him.

"Dude, why do we need all those papers?" He asked. Ryan chuckled.

"Well, it's across the ocean. Also, the place doesn't know what aura is, so these are just contracts saying we won't introduce them to it for 'safety reasons'. They're very power-hungry, see." Ryan pointed out.

"And you think we'll be able to sneak a huge tower out of the country without them getting a _little _hot-headed?" Jack pointed out. Ryan shook his head.

"We'll get it," His eyes darkened. "I will not fail."

*_I'm sooooo sorry for this piece of crap chapter. I must retaliate, but it will have to be another time. Please forgive me._


	11. Chapter 11: Departure

Departure

*_Yo, nothing to say here. Just enjoy the story. _

It was the middle of the night, and the only people in Beacon awake were The Achieve Men.

"What the *hic* hell, Ryan?" Geoff said, swaying. "So late, man?"

Ryan nodded. "Yeah, that's right. I thought you weren't drinking anymore pal?" Ryan shot back menacingly. Geoff blushed, and crossed his arms.

"Let's just get this over with, before we get into trouble." He said. Ryan nodded, and grinned. 

"Good." With that, he slid open the window, and jumped out. Using his semblance powers, he created an air cushion for him and the others, and they all landed safely on the ground. Jack stumbled upon landed on the cushion, and fell to the ground.

"You okay, buddy?" Geoff asked, extending an arm out. Jack grabbed it and stood up.

"I'm fine, yeah. I'm just…really…" Jack began to sway. Geoff caught him. "Sorry…. I'm really tired."

Ryan groaned.

"Suck it up. Come one let's go." He scolded. Jack and Geoff looked at each other, eyebrows raised. Ryan was never this cruel. They shrugged it off and continued to walk off the school ground, and into Downtown Vale.  
-

Ryan looked up at the sign in front of them.

_Taxi service closed. _

"Crap!" He muttered. How would they get to the boat? He shook his head, but then an idea came into his mind.

"Who's the best at picking locks?" Ryan suddenly asked. Everyone was taken aback by this odd and out of context question.

"Well, I think I am, but why?" Gavin asked sheepishly. Ryan chuckled.

"We'll get a taxi the hard way… Come on, let's go." Without explaining, Ryan walked over to a taxi, and pointed at it.

"_Pick the lock." _He commanded. Gavin hesitated for a moment. Regaining himself, he pulled a lockpick out of his pocket. He walked to where Ryan stood, looking up at him as if waiting for cue. Ryan nodded. Gavin, feeling like he couldn't control himself, attempted to pick the lock.

"Ryan?" Jack called feebly. Ryan held up one finger, and Jack was silenced. He was using his semblance to control his teammates, but they didn't even realize. They thought it was their own actions, but in reality, they were only being influenced by Ryan's will. It only worked on victims with trust or fear of the controller. It was a very complex ability, in which one would seep into another's brain and influence it to command the body to the controller's content. This meant that the victim would think it was just their brain commanding them as usual. It was, in Ryan's opinion, an art form. Gavin looked up.

"Done."

The car door lay open. Ryan surveyed his teammates. The lot of them were tired, probably not able to drive. Gavin, on the other hand, looked perfectly fine. 

"Gavin, drive." Ryan commanded.

"But-but I can't-" Gavin stuttered.

"_I don't care." _Ryan shot. Gavin closed his eyes, nodded, and stepped into the car. Ryan, followed by the others, then crammed into the car.

"Hey, how will I start this thing?" Gavin asked, realizing they didn't have keys. Ryan rolled his eyes, and flicked his wrist. The car suddenly jolted awake.

"Couldn't you have done that to open the car?" Gavin asked.

"No, too much work." Ryan replied. In reality, he wanted to try out his mid-control ability. Gavin sighed.

"Here we go." He slammed on the reverse, and the car jolted backwards. Inertia, being the evil thing it is, forced the Achieve Men forward into the seats. Gavin had gone too fast, and even he had fallen victim and slammed against the wheel. He rubbed his nose.

"That hurt." He said.

"Well if your brain was as big as your _nose, _maybe we wouldn't have this problem!" Michael yelled. Gavin frowned, and faced back forward. Taking a deep breath, he drove out of the lot. As soon as the wheels took motion on the pavement, Gavin cheered. Confidence renewed, he continued to drive on the road smoothly. 

"Hey, music anyone?" He jovially asked. No one answered, so Gavin shrugged and turned the radio on. Suddenly Viva Mi Vida began to play. Gavin laughed joyfully.

"Ahhhh, good ol' Chill-play. I love them!" He said. He started bibbing his head to the music, and singing along.

"Shouldn't you pay attention to the road?" Geoff asked nervously. Gavin turned around.

"What?"

_CRASH._

"Eugh! What was that?" Gavin moaned through the airbag. He looked up. The engine was smoking and the bumper was wrapped around a lamp post. The unmistakable screech of police sirens suddenly pierced the cold night air. Gavin jolted up.

"Agh! Let's get out of here!" He screamed desperately. The others nodded, and one by one got out of the car seat. The sirens neared them.

"Take a right!" Ray shouted. They all listened and quickly tuned into an ally. The cops turned the corner and were now at the crash area. The opening and slamming of the police door were heard. They were checking out the scene.

"Ey, whatta think happened he-ah?" A man asked in a strong accent.

"I dunno, some hooligans maybe? This is the stolen taxi, eh? Whatta think?" Another man answered. 

"Looks like it, sure… Let's look around." 

Ryan looked around. Dead end behind them. The only exit was the entrance. His breath became ragged as he realized their fate was to come. They would never get the tower, never save Edgar… The voice of the police-men grew nearer. Ryan sighed and sunk to the ground. The police men were right there. They peaked their heads around the corner, and cried out loud. One of the police men clumsily pulled out a gun.

"My name's Officer Shadlz! Put your hands over your head!" He shouted, fear filling his voice.. Ryan raised his head.

"No." He shot.

"_Excuse me?" _

"No." Ryan repeated. He flicked his hands at them. Their minds were obscure, they were scared, therefore easy targets to control. They suddenly jolted, turned around, and walked back to their police car. Ryan had a solemn expression on his face as they drove away. He looked at Gavin. Gavin cowered.

"I'm sorry, Ryan! Really!" He cried, pleading for mercy. Ryan chuckled, but then resumed his solemn expression.

"You almost killed us." He simply said. He stood up, cracked his neck, and walked out the alley. Everyone stood still. 

"What are you waiting for? The boat's in two hours." Ryan reminded them.

They gulped, nodded, and followed Ryan down the road.

*_Ooooh, Ryan is __**really **__going crazy, eh? Hey, drop a review, if you will, I really appreciate it. Thank you!_


	12. Chapter 12: Weoeras

Weoeras

With only just enough time left, the gang reached the docks. The barge was there, preparing to take off.

"Wait!" Jack yelled, running after the barge with his tickets held in the air. It came to a sudden halt, and backed up. The team boarded the barge,

"Thanks." Jack said to the driver.

"Eh, no problem. Near no one bought tickets anyway. Just those guys over there."

The man pointed out a circle of hooded men. "They don't speak much." The man lowered his voice.

"I got a bad feeling about them; I suggest you don't associate with them."

The group nodded, and took seats near the end of the barge. The docks drew further away, and the water became deeper and more obscure. Gavin and the others were completely sound asleep, only Ryan was up, reading research notes on the Tower. Where in the Altar of Pimps could it possibly be? No one had ever come out of it alive, and it is now guarded by government agents trying to keep snoopers out. They could go in all sneaky-secretive like, but it would be a waste of time. Ryan, lost in his thoughts, was suddenly interrupted by a tap on his back. The person in the hood stood behind him.

"Yes?" He asked, an impatient look on his face. The person behind the hood chuckled. That laugh…

"Hello!" Yang shouted, pulling off the hood. Ryan moaned.

"Why…How?" He complained. Yang laughed, and gestured for the others to come.

"Well, students have a two-week break! Team JNPR couldn't tag along unfortunately. Hey, and guess what? You shouldn't be here." Yang pointed out. Ryan hung his head.

"So what? How did you know we were heading to Weoeras?" He asked.

"Well, Yang saw your tickets when she visited the dorm." Ruby replied.

"And if you don't tell Ozpin we're here, we won't tell on you. Fair?"

Ryan punched the ground, and hesitated for a moment.

"Fine."

Yang punched the air in triumph.

"Cool! Hey, what are you going to Weoeras for anyway?" She asked. Ryan shook his head.

"I don't know. Just something." He blandly replied. Yang rolled her eyes, and sat down.

"Wow, they're actually asleep. Didn't think they would ever stop talking." She said, chuckling. Gavin suddenly sat up, a shocked expression on his face.

"Excuse me? You never stop stalking us! Just you look who's talking!"

He shouted in defense. This rant woke the others up. It was still the dead of night, and they had a while to go.

"Why'd you wake us, Gavin?" Ray asked, wiping his eyes. "I won't be able to fall back asleep…"

Geoff nodded.

"Yeah. Gav. Be more quiet." Geoff yawned.

Ray and Geoff , though, immediately ate their words and fainted back into sleep. Jack could not.

"Ugh, I'll never sleep now!" He groaned. Gavin cowered.

"Sorry!" He apologized.

"You better be, you mong." Michael groaned, his eyes red with tiredness. Amongst this confusion and arguing, Ryan was trying to focus. Finally, after Michael's heckling of Gavin, he couldn't take it.

"I'm trying to research, please be quiet!" He yelled. Suddenly everyone became silent, and Ryan's voice echoed through the night.

"Thank you."

For the next 4 hours, everyone around Ryan remained asleep. Only Ryan was awake, books open on the Altar of Pimps.

"Ugh, so tired." Ryan moaned under his breath. He wiped his eyes and looked up. He saw a faint image of what looked like…

Edgar?

He wiped his eyes again. He must've been hallucinating. But there it was again.

Edgar.

This time he was less obscure and could be seen clearly. It was definitely a hallucination of Edgar, but Ryan was now convinced it was not.

"You've come back!" He shouted, opening his arm in embrace. The vision, being a vision, remained still. Ryan frowned.

"Come here, Edgar!" He beckoned. Once again, no response. Ryan pouted.

"Do you… hate me?" He said, looking at the ground sheepishly. "I was going to save you!"

The shouting woke up the others.

"What's up Ryan, you ok?" Jack asked. Ryan shook his head, saying unintelligible things.

"Ryan?" Geoff called, beginning to get creeped out. Ryan continued to mumble.

"He hasn't had any sleep… It's driving him insane." Ruby calmly told the others. Ryan looked up, his eyes bloodshot.

"I'm not tired… I… I'm fine! Can you not see?" Ryan yelled, pointing at where he thought he saw Edgar.

Yang shook her head.

"No." She said. "I'm sorry Ryan."

"F-for what?" He asked.

Suddenly, Yang raised her hand and chopped downward on Ryan's neck.

"For that."

"Woah! Why'd you do that?!" All fiveof the Achieve Men asked in unison.

Yang dusted her hands. "He needs sleep. Now he's sleeping." She replied, shrugging and grinning.

"I'm not complaining." Gavin said, chuckling. With that, all of them went back to sleep.

The boat came to a sudden halt. It was now broad daylight, and all of them, except for Ryan, were conscious and awake. Yang, the Achieve Men being the generous gentlemen they were, was burdened with carrying Ryan.

The island was beautiful, and according to Blake, was the source of many fruits sent to Vale. The first sight they beheld was a huge pagoda-like structure surrounded with life. Many people walked around in robes and sandals, and lanterns lit the streets.

"Wow, how beautiful! So much to study about the culture!" Weiss said in awe. Blake rolled her eyes.

"You think they'll give you time to study culture?" She told Weiss, pointing at the Achieve Men.

Weiss crossed her arms.

"Whatever."

The group walked off the boat and into the pavement. Many shops lined the street, and the people talked to each other in joy. Some though, were yelling out non sensical things.

"I have seen the top of the mountain! I have seen things no human shall behold! You shall worship me as a god!" A man was heard yelling at the crowd. Yang rolled her eyes.

"Crazy bastard." She muttered under her breath. Suddenly the man turned and faced in their direction.

"Hmmm? Crazy? Do you know what I have seen?" He shouted. Yang stuttered.

"I...I..."

"No! Shush, child!" He shouted. It was at this moment Yang realized he was blind.

"Sir, I'm sorry." She repeated.

"I have seen the inside if the Altar of Pimps and made it out alive! I have seen the horror with my very own eyes! He shouted. Ryan, who apparently was awake the entire time, jumped up from Yang's arms.

"What was that?"

* You like that RvB reference? Anyway, had to finish this up early, I had to some major studying. I woke up at like 7.00 AM to write this, and I'm only just uploading it after ny studies. 'Till next time, you bastards .


	13. Chapter 13: The Altar of Pimps

The Altar of Pimps

*_I know many of you don't think this, but frankly, __**I have a life.**__ Please __**do not **__message me saying I update too infrequently or that I barely update. I am not going through the easiest time, my father has just gotten a surgery and I have to do much of the heavy-lifting for my family while he recovers. Please understand this, and do not pester me about updating more frequently._

Ryan suddenly jumped from Yang's arms.

"What was that?" He asked the man. He looked in the direction of Ryan.

"Ah, you're interested in the altar, huh? I'll tell you all I know…. for a fee." A wicked and triumphant smile came across the man's face. Ryan shook his head, and pulled some change out of his pocket.

"I have some money, but it's from the mainland…"

The man chuckled. "I don't want money. Here, we must discuss this in a more private place." The man stepped of the podium, grabbed a walking stick, and slowly guided his way through the crowd. "Don't get lost, now, travelers!"

Ryan nodded, and gestured for the others to follow the man. Slowly they shadowed the blind man, who seemed to be going nowhere in the sea of people. But suddenly, he stopped dead, felt around, and smiled. He took a sharp right, and walked into an alley. He then turned around to face the others.

"It's safe in here, no one ever comes here." He told them. Ryan shook his head, growing impatient.

"What is it, old man?" He harshly asked. He winced.

"Ouch! Eh, whatever. Look, I heard you guys talking, and from your vocabulary and your accents, I can tell you're from the mainland. I need you to do a favor," He paused for a moment, then continued. "I need you to unlock my aura."

Yang shook her head. "It's illegal, Ryan, we shouldn't-" She began. Ryan silenced her, contemplating.

"Can you not get someone from some sort of black market to do it for you?" Ryan asked. The man chuckled.

"_Of course I can. _It's damn expensive though, and dangerous, what with the government afraid of citizen rebellions if everyone has an aura. You see, if someone snitched on me about my antics, I would be on the run for the rest of my life." He explained. Ryan nodded.

"I-I'll do it." Ryan stuttered, still not sure of his decision. The rest of the group disagreed with this decision, but chose not to say anything. Ryan hung his head, and placed his hands on the man's shoulders and head.

"Here I protect this man from the very bounds of death, armoring him with a sword and shield. 'For it is in passing that we achieve immortality, through this we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all. Infinite in distance and unbound by death, I release your soul, and by my shoulder, protect thee.'" Ryan recited. He toook his hands off the man's shoulders, and keeled over. "I'm getting too-too old to do this."

Suddenly the ground came rushing to Ryan.

Ryan woke up in a dirty hotel room, its walls yellow and the floor torn. He lay on a creaky bed, with dirty sheets and a unclean smell to it. He sighed, and propped himself up. Gavin was at the bedside.

"Oh, he's awake!" He yelled into the next room. He turned to face Ryan. "What was that bullshit about 'getting old'? You're only 30!"

Ryan shrugged. "I don't know. I feel older than 30, what with all that's been happening." He sighed, and looked around. "Where are the others?"

Gavin shrugged.

"I don't know, thought they were in there," He said, pointing to the door to the next room. "They must've went to get breakfast. They'll bring it up to us."

Ryan nodded, and sat back in the bed. "What happened? After I fainted, I mean."

"The man just ran. He was laughing. Look Ryan, it might not have been a good idea to unlock his aura." gavin replied, pouting. Ryan brushed it off.

"Look, he's not a mass murderer or anything, and he's blind! It'll be fine." He replied. Gavin sighed, still not convinced.

"I don't know, Ryan."

_CRASH_

The door was suddenly thrown open by none other than Yang.

"Hey, Ryan!" She said, her eyes red.

"Yang? What;s with your eyes…?" Ryan asked nervously. She shrugged.

"I don't know," Her suddenly burst into flames. "_MAYBE YOU JUST GAVE A MAN THE RESOURCES TO ATTEMPT A COUP D'ETAT!"  
_Ryan sunk into the bed. "I didn't mean too…" He excused sheepishly. Yang threw her hands.

"Oh, he's _sorry! _Look, that man might do some serious damage!" She yelled. Ryan shrugged.

"Or he might not." He pointed out. Yang gritted her teeth, balled her hands into a fist, but then calmed down.

"If he does, though, it is our responsibility to help this country, you understand?" 

Ryan nodded. "Yeah, yeah." 

Yang shook her head, and bolted out of the room. Blake chuckled.

"She is _pissed!" _Blake said. Ryan sighed.

"Yeah, I really don't know why, either." Ryan replied, shocked at Yang's reaction. He shook it off, but suddenly remembered something.

"Damn!" He yelled suddenly. "He tricked us! That must be why Yang is mad! He told us nothing of the Altar!"

Ruby rolled her eyes. "Good job on noticing…." she muttered. Weiss nodded.

"Yeah, you just noticed? Look, he probably knows nothing of it."

Ryan sat with his arms crossed, his mood now ruined.

"What the fuck…." he kept whispering under his breath, as if it would make it better. "This blows…"

"You got yourself into it, buddy." Geoff said, patting Ryan on the back. Ryan shoved him off.

"Hey, man, calm down!" Geoff shot, offended by Ryan's rudeness. Ryan merely shook his head in frustration. He was very angry about what had just happened, even more than he showed. How else would they find the altar? Even he had been lying…. Ryan would need to research even more. For Edgar.

_*Hope you enjoyed. Good night, all. _


	14. Chapter 14: All-Nighter

All-Nighter

*_Today or tomorrow, I will be uploading this story to Wattpad due to its success on this website (My username, since BassGuru is taken, will be fortisimo. Yeah. Also, recommend this story to your buddies who also like RT, it'd be doing me (and them ;D) a favor._

Ryan slammed the table excitedly. It was near 2 AM, and Ryan was the only one up, sitting at a table, books spread across it. He had finally found a written account of what the survivors of a research team had seen in the Altar before dying in the hospital of sheer fear for what they claimed to be 'The Bane of the World'. The two scientists who had survived had completely different descriptions of the beast within the Altar. One claimed that it looked like a huge 10-foot spider with wings, while one claimed that it looked like his wife that had died just months before. The doctors wrote them down as insane, and their accounts were completely disregarded. Until now, of course, when Ryan came along, insanity overcoming him. He read over the story a million times. The men had not remembered any of the journey, only the creature and a flash of light, before they were found out cold outside the Altar.

'_Obviously, a godly entity resides in the Altar…' _Ryan thought to himself. '_They might just be insane, but what would make them go insane? Hmmm…'_

Ryan shook his head, confused. '_How could the Pimponians create such an entity, which could shape-shift? I doubt from the research team's detailed account that they were hallucinating…'_

Ryan bookmarked the page, and closed it. He yawned, and stretched, looking outside the hotel window. The city was below him. It certainly wasn't as flashy as Vale, what with dirt roads and houses built like huts. They must be very power hungry, if the government wants them to stay away from aura. Ryan wondered if a coup d'état had forced them into this strict system. It would be likely, power was always something one held tenaciously to. The president of the country had been in power for nearly 56 years, it would be no wonder if someone wanted to oust him. Ryan, lost in his thoughts, had not heard Gavin creep into the room. Gavin, rubbing his eyes, had also failed to see Ryan, at first.

"AHHH!" Gavin screamed as Ryan came into focus. Ryan suddenly bolted around.

"WH-WHAT IS IT?" He screamed paranoidly. Gavin exhaled, covering his chest dramatic.

"No, you just gave me a little jump, that's all."

Ryan shook his head and turned back to his books. Gavin frowned.

"I'll help you." He said as he pulled a chair besides Ryan. Ryan ignored him, and continued to read. Gavin shrugged, and pulled a pile of books toward him.

The unlikely duo remained at work for nearly an hour, reading up on the Altar. They were just about to wrap up when Gavin gasped dramatically, reading a book.

He covered his mouth, and his eyes widened in shock. Ryan eyed Gavin.

"What is it?" He slowly and carefully asked. Gavin pushed the book towards Ryan, looking real spooked. It was titled 'Myths and Legends of Weoeras.' The text and the pages were worn and old, but the story Gavin had just read was still intact. It went as follows:

_In the year prior to Weoeras induction into the International United Nations, an experiment was conducted in the forbidden Altar of Pimps. No one was allowed to enter, due to a high fatality rate, but the rules were set aside for one summer day, when Pongo, a Weorian Puffigan dog, was selected to participate in an experiment in which an animal would enter the Altar. Puffigans are well known for entering complex cave systems and coming out alive_, _as well as going far enough to explore the caves,_ _so this breed of dog was perfect for the job. The dog entered the Altar with a set of assistants, and once the dog made it far enough in (without it getting dangerous), the assistants would leave the Altar. The research team that set up the experiment waited a day. The dog was never seen, so they abandoned post and called the experiment quits. It was almost a week before Pongo was spotted in a nearby village, his eyes clouded with white smoke, his mouth foaming. His legs trembled uneasily. By the time authorities reached the town, Pongo was dead. The townspeople were terrified, but not because of the dog. According to them, the dog had spoken. It had only said one thing. _

_I want to die._

Ryan closed the book, a chill sent down his spine as he read the last words. Gavin shook his head in disgust.

"Ryan, why are we going in there?" He asked frantically. Ryan held his head in his hands.

"We must." He muttered. Gavin sighed.

"I hope you know what you're doing, Ryan." Gavin stuttered as he got up and walked out of the room, leaving Ryan alone.

Was it worth it putting his teammates in danger to save his life-long friend? Was it really worth the lives of the children who had foolishly tagged along?

These were the questions that raced through Ryan's mind as he sat in the middle of the room. He slammed the table in frustration. There was that voice, again. The voice nagging you. The Devil in your head, the temptation to do wrong, to go against the rules. 

_Ryan, it's for your lifelong friend, who do these fools mean to you? They've only ever insulted you…_

But combating that evil little devil was the angel in your head.

_Who are they? They've fought alongside you, saved your life a couple times. How can you not call them friends? What kind of monster are you?_

Ryan sat, hesitating for a moment, thinking of the outcome of his choice here. He can continue to convince his friends that what they're doing _is _right, or he could tell them the truth. Ryan sat for nearly ten minutes contemplating the pros and cons of each choice. After those brutally long minutes of thought, Ryan came to a conclusion. He stood up, looked out the window, and smiled wickedly. Edgar would be in his hands soon, and although the bodies of his friends might surround him, Edgar would still be there.

Edgar.

_*Whoa, super-duper serious chapter, eh? Man, I'm writing in complete darkness, so it was really unnerving to write this. Anyway, hope you enjoyed._


	15. Chapter 15: Market

The Markets of Weoeras

*_I really appreciate you guys taking your time to read this. I truly do. It gives me confidence to know that I have near 170 people read my story each time a new chapter would come out. I've lost views, but it does not matter, as long as I have a strong, central core of readers I'm happy with that. I truly adore you guys. _

Ryan slumped off the chair, and continued to snore, for he was sound asleep. He remained asleep even on the cold concrete floor, and with the light of the sun beaming down on him. Gavin had left him in the middle of the night, spooked of all the legends of the Altar. Only by Ryan's want for Edgar did he continue his research on the work of the devil, and not chickened like Gavin. He had honestly wanted to just leave, but he could not. Edgar was at the end of the tunnel, a tunnel in which the light was so close….

_SMACK._

Yang had charged through the door, and slapped Ryan across the arms to wake him up. He remained asleep. She raised her slipper again, and once again popped Ryan. This time he jolted awake, clutching his arm. He stared at Yang and the others surrounding him. Ruby waved at him, giving a sympathetic and weak smile.

"We're going to the market." She told him. He slowly stood up, refusing Jack's offer to help him up.

"Let's go, then," He replied, wiping himself down. "I suppose we'll need to eat."

They all walked out the door and down the stairs of the hotel, looking like a pack of *organized* wolves. People stared at the odd group, having never seen anyone dress as eccentrically as they were. They ignored these stares, and quickly walked off the hotel courtyard into the busy streets of Weoeras.

The street was full of vivid people, all talking actively to each other. Merchants carried carts and operated small, shoddy shops made from wood. Many of the products sold were fruits and meats never seen by any of them. Most interested in these foods was Jack, who stared in awe at a meat stand.

"That looks good." He concluded. He pulled money out of his pocket and walked towards the stand. The others stopped to allow him time.

"Hurry up! We need to go get some supplies." Yang shouted. Jack gave her thumbs up and bought a slab of freshly cooked meat. He walked back to the group, a huge smile on his face as he devoured the food.

"How'd you get that? Don't they have a different currency?" Weiss asked, pointing at the meat. Jack shrugged.

"I don't know, he just took it. I guess money from Vale might be worth something." Jack replied. As he finished his sentence, a whoop of joy was heard from the meat stand Jack had left. The butcher clutched the money tightly to his chest, his eyes tearing from joy. He jumped up and down excitedly. 

"Thank you, bearded one!" He yelled, pointing at Jack. He jumped over the stand suddenly and ran over to Jack, embracing him. Jack jumped back, surprised, but returned the embrace. The man released, Jack, and bowed respectfully.

"Money from Vale is worth fortunes here, anything from Vale is! Now I can pay off my child's college fund!" He shouted, running back to his stand and knocking everything down from it in excitement. Jack chuckled, and turned around, facing a group of Weoerians begging for money. He dwarfed them, for they were small people, and the whole scene looked very odd. Off to the side stood the others, crossing their arms in disappointment as Jack gave away all of his money to the people. As the crowd dispersed, Jack stood pathetically looking at the others. He walked slowly back towards them. They just ignored him and continued to walk through the market.

"If you see any food stands, point them out." Yang told the others.

They nodded, and looked around at all the stands. A whole selection of choices lay in front of them, and none of them were sure what they wanted. Suddenly Geoff pointed out a stand with a man mixing naturally-made alcohol. Blake rolled her eyes.

"We can't have alcohol," She reminded him. "We're too young."

Geoff cursed under his breath and continued to walk on. They looked and looked until Yang found a stand to her liking. Exotic meat and fruits lay across the stand. Yang sighed.

"So many choices." She muttered. She pulled a bill out her pocket, and handed it to the man. "I'll take half of it."

The man took a close look at the money, and immediately nodded. He took out 5 baskets, and began to stuff half of all his stock into them. Yang gladly took them, and handed them to Jack.

"Hold this." She told him. He moaned as the weight of nearly 400 pounds of food weighed his arms.

"Why…?"

Yang slightly tilted her head towards Jack. "Punishment for wasting time and money."

Jack sighed. "It was my money!" He complained. Yang shook her finger, and faced Jack.

"We could've used that for something else, like next week's food, but I had to use all my money." She shot back. Jack sighed.

"Bossy…" He muttered under his breath. Yang pretended not to hear him, but her eyes turned a slight red as he whispered that.

They all walked towards the hotel slowly, as Jack slowed them down. 

"It's not my fault!" He said in defense, holding up the bags he was holding. "They're very- Urgh-heavy…"

Yang suddenly stomped her foot on the ground, and spun on her heels to face Jack. She began to strut towards him, anger in her step. Jack froze from fear. She went up to his face, looked him in the eye, and took all the bags from his hands. She turned back around and began to walk to the hotel. 

"Let's go."

Jack stared in awe at the girl's strength, and became somewhat jealous. The others had the same reaction. Jack was definitely the strongest of them, and if Yang was stronger that him, that was certainly something. After that incident, they looked at RWBY differently than before, noticing that each member's skill was almost incredulous for their age, specifically the tenacity they showed in a fight. All the Achieve Men knew that Team RWBY was not a group of girls to reckon with.

"I wonder how that Team JNPR is." Geoff whispered to Jack as they looked at Ruby eating all of the cookies.

"Probably just as good, judging from these guys." Jack replied. Geoff nodded.

"These kids are fucking crazy."

*_Hope you enjoyed! Have a nice night. _


	16. Chapter 16: Agents

Agents of Weoeras

The gang had all been eating at the dinner table provided to them, filled with exotic meats and fruits. Many gags were heard every now and then, for none of them knew what to expect from these foods. Geoff did this most frequently, spitting out food every 2 minutes.

"PFFFT! Eugh! That tasted… odd…" Could be heard coming from Geoff. The others all laughed, and continued to bite into their food, enjoying the time, when suddenly a loud knocking was heard. Ruby got up, being closest to the door, and poked her head out.

"Hello?" She asked sheepishly, looking at the two suit-wearing, shade-wearing men standing at the door.

They dramatically took off their shades, and pushed Ruby aside.

"Hello." The burlier man said, pulling a notebook from an inside pocket. He looked down at it.

"Recently, a man by the name of Ling disappeared. Many eyewitness accounts said they last saw the man entering an alley. They also reported a group following him." He closed the notebook and looked up. "You seem to fit the descriptions listed."

The other man slammed his hand on the table. Ryan jumped.

"Hey, we didn't kill anyone!" HE shouted in self-defense. The smaller man shook his head.

"We ain't saying you killed lil' old Ling," He pointed out. "We want to know what ya told 'im."

Ryan sighed, and looked at his teammates. Suddenly Weiss stopped him.

"We didn't tell him anything, but we had the intention to…" She lied. Ryan looked at her, a look of proudness in his face.

"He threatened to kill us if we didn't exchange the information, and he knocked out Ryan here." Weiss continued. The smaller agent thought for a moment, and whispered to his partner.

"We will choose to believe you, people did describe you carrying a man out of the alley… Ok. That is enough." With that, the two men put their shades back on, and walked out the door. Ryan exhaled.

"Wow, thanks Weiss." He said, patting her on the back. She blushed.

"No problem…"

They all sat in awkward silence for a couple moments, only to be broken by Yang.

"Yeah, yeah, it was close and all, but me and my sis should go get some more food for next week."

All six of the Achieve Men suddenly spat out the food in their mouth.

"_Sisters?!" _They all asked simultaneously. Weiss and Blake both laughed.

"I know, right?" They chuckled at the same time. Yang held her index finger up.

"Shush," She sneered, silencing them all. "Me and Ruby'll head down to the market. You just sit still."  
She gestured for Ruby to follow, and they both were out the door. Another awkward silence filled the room. The only difference was this time it lasted for a while, everyone left to their own thoughts, until Ryan stood up and left the room, going into his sleeping quarters. Following him was Weiss, then Blake. The only ones left were the other Achieve Men. They all looked at each other, and smiled.

"LLLLLLET'S PLAY!" Ray suddenly yelled, jumping on top of the table. The others responded with whoops and cheers. They all scrambled to their bags, where in the bottom there lay a bundle of wooden swords. All five of the Achieve Men, except for Geoff, grabbed a sword and ran back to the table.

"I'll judge." Geoff said, a bored expression on his face. The others nodded, and began to fence each other with the swords. Ray and Michael exchanging strikes, Jack fiddling with his sword, Gavin running over to help Michael… It was complete mayhem.

"_No fair! _I can't fight two!" Ray shouted, blocking Gavin and trying to fend off Michael at a time. He suddenly was hit in the side. "Dammit."

He took a seat next to Geoff, and watched as Gavin and Michael high-fived each other

"Nice Dynamite is now in effect!" Michael shouted, pointing his sword in the air. Jack stopped fiddling with his sword and looked up as Michael and Gavin started to walk towards him. Gavin extended his sword.

"Prepare to-" 

_BOOM._

Yang slammed the door open, seething with anger, her eyes red.

"What-is-this?!" She asked through gritted teeth. It was a complete mess. Food and plates lay scattered on the floor, tables and chairs knocked over… Yang screamed at the top of her lungs.

"WHAT IS THIS?!" She asked again. Even Ruby cowered at her sister's anger.

"Yang, calm down…" She told her sheepishly. Yang shushed Ruby.

"I will ask one more time…"

Suddenly Michael spoke up.

"P-practicing, mother… _I MEAN YANG! _Yeah, Yang." He corrected himself. Yang threw down the bags in her hand, and walked up to Michael, her nose nearly touching his.

"Listen, _boi, _you better shape up, or I'll shape you up for you!" She yelled at his face. He nodded. The other Achieve Men gasped. They had never seen him yield so fast, not even to a woman. Yang jerked her head upon hearing them surprised.

"What? Think a girl can't scare a guy?" She suddenly made a move towards Geoff, who grabbed the nearest plate and tried to protect himself. "That's what I thought."

She looked in disgust at the mess, kicking around the contents on the floor.

"Disgusting…" She muttered to herself as she paced the room. "_HEY, THIS AIN'T GONNA CLEAN ITSELF! GET GOING!" _

The Achieve Men obeyed and went hands and knees to clean up all the contents on the floor, as Yang and Ruby supervised them.

"I thought they were going to straighten us out…" Ruby whispered to Yang. Yang nodded.

"Say that louder." She commanded. Ruby hesitated. "Say it louder." 

"I- I thought you guys were supposed to- to straighten us out!" Ruby let out, becoming more confident as she reached the end of her sentence. The Achieve Men let out a universal groan, all already humiliated to the point where it didn't even matter. Another reason for the Achieve Men to learn something from Team RWBY.

*_I gave it my all, but my all apparently BLOWS. I don't know about this chapter. :/_


	17. Chapter 17: Clean Up

Clean up

"I can't study with this mess." Ryan announced. "You need to clean it now."

The others groaned.

"But Yang said we can do it later…"

"I don't _care. _Clean it." Ryan demanded again. The Achieve Men all groaned in unison, not having got much sleep with Yang yelling at them. They all got up off of their comfortable positions on the couches, and grudgingly bent over to pick up any trash. It took them near an hour, but they eventually removed any sign of a brawl. Glass was picked up, scratches were painted over, and, to their disappointment, the swords were thrown out. After the hard work was over, they sat down and watched TV.

"Ummm, excuse me? You don't deserve TV." Yang, who had slipped into the room unnoticed, snatched the controller from Geoff's hand and turned the TV off. She looked around. "I must say, you did quite good. But I expect better." 

The jaws of all the Achieve Men dropped to the floor. Ray shook his head, as if confused.

"What?"

"You heard me. I want it all done over. This is a crap job. While you're at it, paint the walls." She told them. A bright expression came on her face, as if remembering something, and she ran off. For a second the Achieve Men were left to their gloomy thoughts, until Yang came back in the room with buckets of green paint.

"While you're at it, why don't you repaint the walls?"

Even Ryan had been forced by Yang to paint and help out. For her, there was no mercy, whether you did it or not, you had to pay. Yang had been in the next room, occasionally coming in to check if they were doing it the 'correct way.'

"Correct way my ass. She just wants to make sure we're not talking behind her back." Michael muttered to Gavin.

"Yeah…" He agreed.

By the time one side was finished, it was already nightfall. They still needed three more walls to repaint.

"Should we even be doing this? IT's not our apartment…" Ryan thought aloud.

"This hole of an apartment? I think they'll be happy to have the wall repainted."

Ryan shrugged, and they all continued to paint incessantly. There reached a point where they could not reach a certain area, so Jack was burdened with the task of hoisting Gavin into the air to paint the little patch. He took the bucket in one hand and his brush in the other, and climbed on Jack's hand. Gavin wobbled, barely keeping his footing, and only seconds after he got on Jack's hands, he collapsed in a heap on the ground. The paint went with him, and suddenly the floor was splayed with green wall paint. Ray exclaimed, and quickly attempted to clean up the paint before it would stain. This was to no avail, for the floor had absorbed the paint. All the others merely stood looking over Gavin, who lay on the ground with the most scared and humiliated face. Surprisingly, not even Michael said anything to him. They all just shook their heads and went to help out Ray.

"We're screwed!" Geoff shouted, trying to scrape off the paint, hope fleeing his eyes.

"Clean it before Yang comes!"

"Ahhhh! Why won't you clean up!"

"I don't know if I even want to live anymore!"

Were just a sample of the shouts that came from their mouths as all the life In them was drained at the realization Yang would kill them.

"Ummm, what's going on…. Woah." Ruby had slipped into the room, and had seen the mess. "Oh. Bye!"

She did not want to get in trouble with Yang, and quickly darted back into her room. Geoff shook his head.

"We-We're dead! _**WE'RE DEAD!" **_He shouted. Michael calmed him.

"She might hear!" 

"Hear what?" Yang's voice came. She was wiping her eyes, and for the moment, could not see the mess. Jack took quick evasive action, and stood up in front of her as she opened up.

"Oh. Hello Jack. How's the paint coming along?" She asked.

"G-good. We've almost finished."

"May I look?"

"Uhhh, not now. Geoff spilled some water, the guys are cleaning it up."

"Ok…. I'll step over the puddle? Let me see…"

"Eheheh…"

Jack did not know what to say next. Yang had backed them into a corner. They would never get out of her evil clasp.

Suddenly a small hand appeared on Yang's back.

"Hey, Yang, can you help me out with my scroll, I don't think it's working." Ruby's voice rung. Yang turned around.

"Let's see."

As the two sister walked back into the room, Ruby gave a thumbs up and winked at them. They all smiled back, thankful for Ruby saving their asses.

"Woah. Close."

Ray nodded.

"Yeah."

They all sat around the paint, looking at it, not doing a thing about it. The elephant in the room. Would they ever address the elephant? Should they ignore it? Hide it? Pretend it's simply not there, or not their fault?

"NOPE." Ray suddenly kicked the can across the room, and jumped up. "We gotta clean this. _IF YOU WANNA LIVE!" _

The other gulped, got up, and nodded.

"Use your nails! Use your everything! Just _clean it!"  
_

They all complied to Ray's order, and used everything they had to clean the huge mess. Within ten minutes, the paint had been gone, and all that was left was a small green stain, and a lot of paint in their fingernails.

"Oh, this'll take forever to get out!" Michael shouted, looking at his nails.

"It was worth it though." Ray reminded him. They all collapsed on the floor, and next thing, they all fell asleep.


	18. Chapter 18: Out of the Hotel

Out of the Hotel

All six of the guys lay on the ground, passed out from exhaustion. None of the angry conversation around them was being processed, and they all remained asleep until the point where they were yanked from their slumber.

"You re-painting my beautiful walls! Out! I don't care about your Vale money! Out!" An odd man shouted into all their faces as he tugged on them. They grudgingly stood up, trying to calm the man down. As they walked to get their stuff from their rooms, they saw Yang, looking defeated and pathetic, at the exit of the room. The hotel-owner waited for the Achieve Men to get their bags, and pointed them out of the door, along with the rest of Team RWBY. As they left the hotel, no exchange of conversation was heard between anyone. When they were outside of the hotel, and out in the open in Weoeras, they all stood still, merely contemplating in silence.

"Well, that was a thing." Jack blurted out suddenly. Yang slowly nodded.

"Yeah…" She weakly added. They all sighed in unison. What were they to do? Without a place to stay, they were pretty much sitting ducks…

-

"Hey, Ryan, remember that plan we had about that thing… what was it… the Altar Of Pimps?" Gavin sarcastically said as the troop walked down the market. Ryan moaned.

"Shut up. I still need to research a little bit about the altar before we take action." He quickly snapped. "It's dangerous, I wanna make sure I know as much as I can about what we're getting ourselves into." 

Gavin shrugged.

"I…. suppose."

For the next hour, the group merely trudged along the market, knapsacks hanging limply from their backs. Ryan's was of course the largest, as he was forced to research much of the Altar. Many times, he nearly collapsed under the weight of it all. On the other hand, Ruby had been carrying the least, having not brought much to the trip other than spare clothing. She also seemed to be the most optimistic of them all.

"Hey, I thought that hotel was a _hole _anyway." She pointed out.

"And the streets are better?" Blake blatantly replied. Ruby shrugged.

"I don't know, maybe Ryan can think better out here."

Small conversations like these came and gone as they walked aimlessly.

"Hey, where the hell are we going, anyway?" Geoff asked as they past the same sign for the tenth time.

"Wherever the wind takes us."

They all had different methods of entertaining themselves as they walked. Ray played with his Rose, Ryan read his book, Weiss twiddled with her hair, Jack cracked is knuckles, they all had some way to pass time as they headed nowhere. And oddly enough, no one objected to the aimless walking. Well, except for Weiss.

"What exactly are we doing? We should be heading, doing something!" Weiss pouted. "We have no time to walk around, we should be finding a spot to sleep, so Ryan could concentrate more on his studies! The sooner we get this over with, the sooner we get back to Beacon!" 

Everybody ignored her. She merely stomped her foot on the ground, crossed her arms, and continued to walk, occasionally muttering under her breath. This system of complaining, ignoring, and walking continued for approximately an hour more, until Ryan had even had enough. He merely stopped dead in his tracks, sat down, and continued his research on the ground, in the midst of hundreds of shopping people.

"Listen, Ryan, we can't be here! We'll get trampled!" Gavin whispered to Ryan fiercely. Ryan did not listen. "Are you listening?"

Still no reply or acknowledgement. As a crowd began to gather around Ryan, seemingly ignoring everyone who nearly bumped into him, he made a move and slammed the book shut. For a moment he remained still, but then suddenly jumped up to his feet.

"Hello, Weoerians!" He shouted excitedly. "I once heard an urban legend… one about a Puffigan sent into the well-known Altar."

Gavin shuddered, remembering the story.

"I also know this is the town that Puffigan was said to have died in…" He continued. "So. I would like to know one thing. Is it true? The last words? Did it speak?"

So they had not been walking aimlessly. Ryan had lead them to this specific town to gather information, then…

The residents nodded slowly.

"We tell the children stories of it to keep them away from the altar. Some say a demon rests in there. Worse than the Grimm…" A raspy voice came from the crowd.

"Thank you." Ryan said, a smile coming across his face. "I am only a traveler. I want to know if the legends are true."  
With that, Ryan walked back towards his group, suspiciously eyeing Ryan.

"Ugh, demon, did they say…? What kind of thing happened in there?" Yang asked. Ryan shrugged.

"I don't know, obviously some really crazy shit. But we're professionals." Ryan reassured her. She groaned.

"Whatever."

"So, guys, I now know the danger level of the Altar, and am confident to go in there… once we train to overcome our fears and learn how to fight better." Ryan told his friends. "Whatever's in there, it is not some average Grimm low-life. It is something that is scary as hell. Just read some of these stories." Ryan held up a book. It happened to be the same book Gavin read. "It'll leave you spooked. So we need to overcome our fear when in there. We'll need to train extensively…" 

They all nodded.

"Hey, why are we doing this again?" Ray asked. Ryan shrugged.

"For fun. To save the world. To become stronger. Inform the public of the dangers of what's in there." Ryan lied. He knew his goals, he wanted to save Edgar. He would never forgive himself if he would never see Edgar again.

Gavin held his hand out in front of himself, gesturing for a break-down. The other nodded, placed their hands over Gav's, and cheered as they raised their hands in the air triumphantly. 


	19. Chapter 19: Altar?

The Altar...?

*_Hiya, guys! What do? Almost 20 chapters... Oh, stories grow up so fast... thank you for keeping the chapters comin'._

The gang, left by the villagers to sleep in a small hut disconnected from the actual village, slept uncomfortably (for the most part). Hay surrounded them, occasionally getting in their eyes or mouths, and there was no door, so the occasional night breeze sent shivers down their backs. Some, like Ruby, Yang, and Weiss, could not get any sleep, whilst Blake and the Achieve Men slept completely fine, being used to conditions like this. Blake, on her trips with the White Fang, had to survive in this condition, and The Achieve Men, when they went on bounty hunts or clearance missions, also had to sleep like this. On the other hand, Weiss, Ruby, and Yang had usually slept in a comfortable bed, meaning sleeping in hay was no familiar subject to them.

"Is anyone awake?" Ruby asked weakly. Yang groaned in response. Then came Weiss's delayed response, also a mere groan.

"I can't sleep like this..." Yang replied.

"Same here..."

An audible sigh came from Ruby's mouth as yet another cold breeze swept through the room. She looked at her comrades. No one other than them three seemed to be bothered at all by these conditions. Not really surprising, given their past lives. Still, it frustrated Ruby.

"How can they sleep soundly?"

Weiss turned in her 'bed'.

"Not sure. Guess they're used to it."

Ruby pouted. If she could not sleep, what was she to do? It was a waste of time to try to sleep, the last million times had been unsuccessful.

'_One cookie, two cookies, three cookies, four...'_

Ruby resolved to simply counting in her head. She got to about 20 before she became bored.

"Guys?" Ruby propped herself up on one elbow, and looked into the darkness.

"yeah...?"

"I'm really bored. I can't sleep, and I'm not going to try."

"Good for you."

Ruby sat back down.

"Fine."

Silence filled the hut for ten minutes, giving peace to the night. But all that was interrupted by Ruby, again expressing her boredom.

"How do you think Team JNPR is holding up?" 

Yang groaned, as did Weiss. No answer came for Ruby's question.

She grind her teeth, awkwardly awaiting an answer.

"You think we'll get back in time?"

Again no answer.

"What do you-."

"SHUT UP!" Yang suddenly shot up from her hay pile. "SHUT. UP."

Ruby bit her lower lip.

"okay..."

They all sat awkwardly, listening to their own breath. No one said a word to each other. Ruby did not speak in fear of being yelled at again. And for the rest of the night, she didn't get any sleep.

"Rise and shine..." Geoff said stretching. Ruby immediately responded.

"Already up..."

Geoff raised an eyebrow.

"Did you get any sleep?"

Ruby shook her head. Geoff sighed.

"Neither did I."

"Nor I."

Then came the voices of Yang and Weiss. Geoff grimaced.

"Wow." 

The others got up soon after, got changed, and seemed fine.

"Slept pretty well."

"Yeah, me too."

"Wasn't as bad as the time we slept in the Tibetan woods..."

Yang groaned.

"Hey, what's up with you?" Blake asked. She explained.

Blake had the same reaction as Geoff.

"That sucks."

Yang rolled her eyes.

"Where we heading...?"

Ryan shrugged.

"I think we can start by heading to the altar. Maybe work out a strategy on how to eliminate those guards."

The others secretly wished they didn't have to take out government officials, but were, for some reason influenced by Ryan. They felt his choice was the right one...

Within ten minutes, they were out of the hut. Ryan, having marked the area on his map, began to walk towards the direction the villagers had pointed him towards. The others followed, heading into a large expanse of woods. A lot of growling and chirping was heard in the forest, though no source was encountered.

This gave an eerie feeling, but nonetheless they all trudged through.

"Eugh!" Weiss suddenly shouted. She had stepped in goo, and now her shoes were muddy and dirty. "Dammit!"

She stomped at the ground, but instead of continuing to complain, merely pouted and walked on. She had to get used to these conditions eventually. They walked for around a half an hour in one direction, before Ryan stopped suddenly.

"We've walked the distance it says here... where is it?" 

He looked around, a perplexed expression on his face.

"It'here somewhere..."

He started walking in circles, looking past trees, everything, while the rest of the group look on at him dumbfounded.

"We're lost." Michael simply said. Ryan shook his head.

"No, no." He replied. He kept on searching around for a minute, before sighing.

"I don't know where it might be, honestly. Let's head back and ask again."

He regathered himself, started walking one way, spun on his heel, looked the other way, and dead stopped.

"Ummm... Which way did we come from?" 

Everyone groaned. Though they had expected this, they still did not wish it to happen. No one even spoke.

Ryan looked awkwardly around.

"Guys? We should really start heading back..." 

"Guys?"

"Guys?"

"Guys?!" 

"Holy shit, I'll go by myself, then."

He trudged one way. Before long he turned around to his group.

"I'll give you one more chance!"

When no one answered, he turned back around. The group smiled. They tried not to show, but they liked the fact Ryan cared about them, and liked their company. He turned around once more.

"Awwwh, come on guys, please?"

They laughed, and went by Ryan's side. Though they had no idea where they were going, they at least were not fighting and arguing.


	20. Chapter 20: The Demon

The Demon

The group had walked aimlessly for hours, knowing they were lost and had no where else. For those hours, nothing happened, and the group trudged around aimlessly, until they reached a hedge. It was tall, and unclimbable. Quite suspicious, given the Altar was around this area...

Ryan took a look at the hedge. You could see straight through it, although vision was a bit obscured by twigs and leaves. What he saw on the other side was... the Altar!

There seemed to be two guards on each side, from what Ryan could tell. Although he couldn't get a good view, from where he stood the Altar looked huge. The first layer was the size of a human and a half, and there were at least 7 layers. The guards were standing in front an entrance...

"Guys, we need to break through this hedge. Fuck stealth, it won't work. We gotta just go right in." Ryan explained, motioning for the others to sit around him. "We'll take the guards out quickly, and enter. From there, wing it. We'll divide into groups. We'll cross that bridge later, though. Ray, can you blow a hole through the hedge?"

Ray nodded, caressing his rose.

"I can blaze a hole through a hedge. Definitely."

Ryan smiled.

"Good. We got the plan?" The others nodded. Ryan got up. "Let's do this, then." 

Before he could prepare, though, Weiss had grabbed him by the shoulder.

"Why are we doing this? Are we not the bad guys in this situation?" She asked, worried. Ryan smirked.

"Trust me." He looked deep into her eyes, using his semblance to bend her. Weiss suddenly shook her head.

"I got the weirdest feeling... I feel... I think this is a good idea."

Ryan nodded.

"Let's go, then." He continued with a convincing smile. "Ray, let's go. Time to blaze, as you say."

Ray motioned for the group to stand back. He held the rose to his face, pulled back his sleeves, and made a circle in the air with his rose as the pointer. A ring of fire formed in front of him. He punched through the center of it, and the fire quickly followed, lurching forward into the bush. Without any trouble, it blew a hole.

"There it is. I made it so no fire would spread. Save the trees, you know." 

He pointed the others through the hole, quickly following afterward.

The guards did not notice until Ryan called out to them.

"You've got an intruder. Well, ten, actually."

Quickly, the two guards closest to them called for backup, and clumsily fumbled for their guns.

Geoff, quicker than them, drew a tranquillizer gun, and shot the both of them.

"Remember, we're not aiming to kill. Be careful." He reminded them. "Alright, Two guards coming from the right, two from left. I'll take right, one of you take left."

It was true, from the sides of the pyramid two guards were closing in, guns ready in hand. As soon as the ones on the right rounded the corner, Geoff tranquillized them. Jack took point with the other guards, and a wee bit more violently than Geoff, knocked the guys out, dodging their bullets as he sprinted towards them. Behind Jack, who was not paying attention, another set of guards was running, coming from the rear. Blake quickly told Jack to duck, and with amazing precision and surprising accuracy, threw and wrapped her ribbon-hook around one guards neck, pulling hard. He bashed into his partner, the force of the strike knocking both of them out.

She wiped her hands like a bad-ass, and smiled at Jack who gave a thumbs-up.

"Alright, let's go."

They all took a deep breath, and began to walk towards the Altar. Just feet before the entrance, though, Ryan stopped them.

"We should divide into teams. Ray and Gavin, go in together. I'll go with Michael, Geoff and Jack go together. Team RWBY go together. If anything happens, scream. I've read that in this pyramid structure, screams carry out through the entire thing."

They all nodded and split apart. Each group taking one side of the pyramid. Team RWBY was probably the best off, being they were four, but still were all nervous. Ray and Gavin were already laughing it off, Michael and Ryan serious, and Geoff and Jack casually talking as they walked into the structure.

Ray and Gavin (X-Ray and Vav)

"Pretty dark in here. Ray. You know what to do."

"Yeah, sure."

Before long, the whole pyramid had been lit by the flame of Ray's rose.

"Hey, Vav, I mean, pffft... Gav. Damn."

Gavin had stopped walking, laughing his ass off.

"Vav? Oh, I suppose I shall call you X-Ray, then? Since we're making up names?"

Ray pouted.

"Yeah, whatever. I messed up." 

Gavin continued to laugh. After a moment, he wiped tears from his eyes.

"Not too scary in here, huh. Really peaceful."

This peaceful mood remained for a minute, until they ran into an intersection.

"Which way, X-Ray?" Gav asked. Ray caressed his chin, and pointed to the left.

"Looks like it's heading to the center that way."

"You _wanna _go to the center?" Gavin asked, surprised. Ray nodded.

"Yeah, we can maybe see this demon-thing."

Gavin nearly fainted.

"You're pretty damn brave, X-Ray. Whatever, fuck it. We'll go your way."

With that they went to the left. What awaited them, only a couple feet ahead, was something so atrocious. Long story short, all the others we're influenced the same way, tempted to head closer tot he center. An outside force had influenced them... And that force lay within the pyramid.

Every one of them arrived in the same clearing at the same time, coming from different sides. In the center of the room was a brazier, its fire blazing with a bright glare. No one talked, knowing the fire had something to do with this demon. And, sure enough, after a minute of their presence, the fire went out.

"_Guests, eh?" _A snarky and mocking voice came from, well, nowhere exactly. "_Whatcha looking for here? Immortality? What is it, come on, spit it out."  
_

No one spoke, paralyzed with fear.

"_Oh, if it'll help, I'll show myself."_

The fire rose again, but this time a figure could be seen within the flames. Only a face. It was a faint vision, but still could be made out. A human face, only it was black like the void. It had an underbite, and revealed the teeth of a Sabre. Its golden eyes glowed menacingly. NO one could tell where he was looking. It gave an eerie feeling.

"_Oooh! Better." _

Ryan suddenly stood up.

"The... The Tower of Pimp! Where is it?!" He blurted. The demon raised an eyebrow.

"_It's not here, you fool."_


	21. Chapter 21: Grimm

Grimm

Ryan shook his head, surprised.

"W-what?"

The demon laughed.

"Yeah, that's right. _Not here._ You honestly think there actually _is a tower? _Don't tell me you're that stupid." The demon smirked, and awaited a reaction. "Yeah, there is none. Big whoop. I mean, I would waste my time and tell you the _real _story, but it would, well, be a waste of my time. The tower is a legend. That's really all you must know."

Ryan swallowed hard.

"Then what does that make you?!" 

"Oh. I suppose curiosity was always blooming in you humans. Eh, what can I say. But uh, long story short, the name's Grimm. You probably recognize it." The demon called Grimm smiled upon speaking his name, taking pride in it.

Everyone gasped in shock, not saying anything in shock.

"When the God created the universe, he accidentally created me. Afraid of my power, he condemned me to live on Earth, quite possibly my father's least favorite creation. I've had my fair share of fun on this planet, although I'm concealed to this brazier," Grimm shot a look at his container, the large brazier. "The Pimponians worshipped me. The sacrifices your books tell to be for the tower were actually for me. They gave me strength. They thought I was God. Is it not odd the creatures of Grimm sprung up around the same time the Pimponians fell? Have you humans never thought of that?"

"Then... You fooled them!"

"Oh, good job, you can talk, finally." Grimm mocked. "You all are fools. No wonder I've been able to squeeze you all into the corners of the world."

Silence filled the room. No one dared to even groan in the presence of the beast, afraid of being destroyed.

"Ah, if only my old man could see me now," Grimm said, a pensive and melancholy look on his dark face. He turned to face his visitors. "Look, it was nice to have you over, but I'll have to absorb your souls. I need it to get out of this brazier, and to carry on with my plan."

Ryan stomped.

"No!" His eyes widened, as if shocked himself that he spoke up. "I will not allow you."

Grimm tilted his head. "Oh, brave guy, eh? Protecting his friends? Hey, I hope you know I can seep into your mind. I gotta say I've found some pretty interesting shit in there. Perhaps I shall tell your friends of you exploits?" 

Ryan's hands rolled into fists and sweat rolled down his forehead.

"If- If it'll save us our lives..."

"Oh, it won't. You gotta fight for your lives. Perhaps I'll leave it to you to tell them why you brought them to your deaths... If you survive, that is. Although I'm immortal, I'm fair. I'll allow you to walk peacefully if you only survive."

Suddenly, spiders crawled from the ceiling, crawling over Jack and him only. He tried and tried to get them off, to no avail. Though no one else saw these spiders, they still saw Jack freaking out, and did not know why.

For Gavin, it was pieces of soggy bread being flung at him. (no surprise there)

For Geoff, it was zombified version of the same little girl: his daughter Millie.

For Michael, well, there was nothing. He merely flailed around, attempting to help the others.

For Ryan, the vision of a deformed creature from childhood nightmares approached him.

For Ray, his father, having abandoned him, had shown.

For Ruby, darkness begun to surround her, engulfing her. She could see nothing.

For Weiss, her power was drained from her. She became weak, leading to confusion and helplessness on her part.

For Blake, the room began to fill with water. She could not swim.

Yang, like Michael, saw nothing.

"Well. You are all certainly an odd bunch." Grimm thought aloud. "Your fears are surprising."

Ryan looked at the creature nearing hi, backed up to a wall.

"What have you done? W-what's happening?" 

"Oh, did you forget I was a 'demon'? I have a semblance. I can make you guys hallucinate. Your fears. Have you read reports of this place? The same thing every time. Victims report seeing apparitions of their biggest fear."

One by one, everyone fainted as their fear quite literally overcame them. None of them could take the misery, so their bodies shut down. Only Michael and Yang stood, hopelessly trying to help up their teammates.

"Oh, I suppose you have no fear? Interesting."

"What have you done?" Yang shouted.

"Have I not just explained that?"

Yang breathed hard.

"Look, girl, you have an hour till they die. If they stay here, they'll definitely rot. Ya gotta take them out of here, if you want them to live. Of course, you have to prove your worth to me."

Michael stood up.

"Why do we have to prove shit to you?"

Grimm laughed.

"To save your teammates."

The room around the two began to blur out, until only a white plain surrounded both Yang and Michael.

They looked at each other for a moment, but quickly regained focus. Grimm's voice came from the sky.

"Choose."

The bodies of Ruby, Ryan, and Blake formed in front of them.

The two looked nervously at each other, hesitating.

"**Go." **The voice boomed again.

Yang shook her head, pushed Michael aside, and tugged on Ruby's arm. She, Ryan, and Blake disappeared.

"Selfish. Okay." Grimm said to himself.

She blushed, and Michael shook his head.

"Be more sensible." He whispered into Yang's ears.

Their surroundings changed again. A rainy backdrop began to form around them. It looked like the streets of Vale.

A man and a woman walked through Michael and Yang, as if they were ghosts. The scene was very depressing.

The couple turned around.

"Where is my baby?" The woman asked Yang. She jumped back.

"W-what?"

She shook her head, and looked at Michael, grabbing at his collar.

"Where... _Where?!" _

The man suddenly rose his fist.

"I know you know!" He spat. Yang shook her head.

"No, no! N-No." 

The woman dug her face into her hands.

"My baby..."

She sobbed.

"WHY?" Suddenly she looked up. Her face was very different. It seemed to be deformed where her hands were. "WHY WON'T YOU TELL ME?" 

Her face began to sink and melt. Yang jumped back, whilst Michael kept his stance, trying to keep a straight face as he watched the disturbing image. Yang began to breath heavily, but followed suit, standing her ground like Michael. It was not real.


	22. Chapter 22: Hallucinations

Hallucinations

*_Hope you enjoy! Sorry for being late, I had quite the important test to study for, and couldn't be pestered with writing. In return for my lateness, here's a chapter._

_Perhaps it would be best if I did another test of guts... The male can obviously handle these kinds of situations, but the female just barely makes the cut._

These were the thoughts rushing through Grimm's mind as he entranced his victims, Michael & Yang.

_The male seems to be giving strength to the female. Interesting. I'll separate them. Maybe this Yang girl wouldn't handle the situation as well. _

Yang watched as Michael disappeared before her. She wanted to scream, but it would probably get her marked for death. She shut her mouth, and merely looked on at the changing colors around her.

_How is he doing this? _

It certainly was odd, how the scenery changed so quickly. It went from a forest, to a mountain, to a night sky in seconds. She would show her bravery.

"How are you doing these things?" Yang asked, her voice shaking a bit. Suddenly the swirling scenery came to a stop, leaving at a rain forest.

_Why ask?  
_

Grimm's mocking voice came from the sky.

"I don't know, just curious."

_Ahhh, I see. Trying to look brave. That's fine. Hmmm... I can't seem to find anything you're afraid of... But I know there's something in there. I don't know, I feel like you hide your fear._

Yang pouted, trying to look casual.

"I don't think so..." 

_Lying won't get you anywhere, you know._

"I'm not lying." 

_Are you not?  
_

"That's right."

….

….

_Maybe you don't... _

"Finally gave up looking, huh? Not much of a demon, are you?"

Too far.

_I'll have you know I can kill all your friends and your only family, and perhaps I'll keep you alive, crazed from seeing so much death. Your friend Michael can also say goodbye if you keep on talking. _

Yang stayed silent, keeping a solemn face. Grimm could see right through her, though.

_Ah, scared of losing friends, huh? Well, everyone is, I guess. I won't toy with that fear, though... Honestly, I want to keep your friends alive, they look like an interesting bunch... Specifically that Ryan person. He looks like he can be of help._

Yang choked.

"Ryan? I doubt he'll help you." She muttered.

_HA! Have **you **seeped into his mind? Why do you think he was scared when I said I would reveal his plans? He's a dangerous man, probably the most powerful person who ever walked into this structure. _

Yang sat in silence, contemplating. What could he be hiding? He obviously was mad, but what was it that made him like that?

_I could tell you._

Yang jolted her head up.

"What?"

_I can tell you what you want to know._

Grimm's face suddenly appeared in front of Yang, a sick smile painted on his face.

Yang looked down at her feet.

"I don't wanna know anything..." She honestly did not. Whatever Ryan's secrets were, she did _not _want to know.

_I... can tell you. Oh, how painful it would be for you! How he tricked you, the idea itself festering like a sore within you!_

Yang looked up, and into his eyes.

"No."

_Hmmmm... okay, fine. Your buddy Michael was curious, though... he knows._

"Where is he?"

_In his own mind, in the same situation as you. _

"How can you talk to the both of us...?" 

Grimm laughed.

_I'm a demon, as old as the universe itself! I can do anything. I can kill you all right now, but the sisters of fate seem to favor you, for I have a strong urge to keep you alive. I think you can do good in this world._

"Do you... like this world?"

_Of course. I live in it, or, more like, am jailed in it. If it is destroyed because of my reckless and useless creatures, I will be devastated, or, really, I would die with the planet._

"What do you mean? I doubt those little shits could destroy the Earth." Yang pointed out.

_Oh, but they are slowly eating away at the Earth's life force. Soon it will collapse among itself, with so many evil entities living on it. It's the way the universe was created. All good things **must **come to an end..._

"Well, if the Creatures of Grimm are useless, don't you have the power to destroy them?"

_Haha. No. You don't understand how us deities work. We let off spawn infinitely. The only time we stop creating these creatures of our own is when a large number of them die. I feel if the world loses you, the Grimm may survive. I feel it. I know it. _

Yang felt like blushing for some reason. She walked up to the demon's face.

"You aren't that bad, now, for a demon, huh?"

_Oh, trust me. As soon as I can get out of here, sayonara! I'll be out in no time. I'll leave you guys behind without hesitation. I don't care about humans. _

"Ok... can you please release my friends now?"

_Hmmm..._

Grimm thought for a moment.

_Perhaps. I want to keep them in here, though. But, I'll let you out. Under one condition._

Yang bowed her head, a sign of respect.

"Yes?" 

_For your entire lives, as long as you're capable, you must protect the Earth by fighting Grimm._

"Yes." 

Grimm smiled.

_I hereby rectify a contract with these ten hunters, stating that they must fight my spawn till they cannot do so anymore. This bond, the bond of a deity, cannot be broken, else the one who has broken the promise will be summoned to the lair of said deity, where they will die however the deity wishes. _

Yang broke her bow.

"_What?!"  
_

_You agreed to it. _

"No—No!"

_Hey, look._

"No! I will not fight for... Ugh!"

Yang nearly broke down in tears. She had made such a huge decision, and now everyone was stuck having to fight Grimm.

_Fool! Perhaps you should be more careful with contracts!  
_

Suddenly the original room began to form around Yang, the room in the altar. She looked around at all those innocent faces, waking up from their slumber, and in the corner of her eye, saw Michael, who had a very angry expression as he looked at Ryan. She took one look, and before she knew it, the ground came rushing towards her.


	23. Chapter 23

?

Yang woke up, and slowly looked around.

_Hmmm... still in the altar. _

As her hearing came back, she could hear Michael and Ryan's voice, seemingly arguing.

"Perhaps if you hadn't cheated us this would be a lot different!" 

"Look, Michael, I swear I meant nothing by it... I was overcome by..."

"Shut up, man..."

Ryan groaned.

"I'm so sorry..." He repeated.

Then a familiar voice came.

"Ryan, it's ok. We know how much you cared about your pet..." 

It was Ruby.

Yang had the urge to get up, but for some reason wanted to stay on the ground, and not find out what exactly it was Ryan had done... But she had to get up, unfortunately.

She propped herself up, allowing the others to notice her awakening.

"Oh, hey Yang." Weiss greeted without enthusiasm.

"Hello..." She replied.

Everyone looked at Yang.

"Did you hear that?" They asked.

"Hear what?" Yang would ask back.

"Oh, nothing."

"Oh, wait, was it that thing that Michael and Ryan were arguing about? Yeah I heard that."

An audible gulp could be heard from Michael.

"What was that about?" Yang asked, eyeing Michael. He swallowed again, and hesitated for a moment.

"Oh, nothing."

"Really...?"

"Yeah, just having a yelling match..."

"About what?" Yang got up, and went face to face with Michael. A bead of sweat dripped from his forehead.

"N-nothing, I already said..."

She suddenly made a move toward Ryan, who put his hands up in the air, and closed his eyes.

"I mean it, we didn't argue about anything! Serious!" 

Yang backed off, thinking for a moment. She then looked around.

"Where's Grimm...?" 

Michael sighed.

"We don't know. He's spared us, though."

Suddenly Yang remembered.

She had made that devastating promise with him... Should she tell them?

"Guys, when Grimm seeped into my mind, I had made an agreement with him in exchange for our lives.." 

Everyone began to listen intently.

"The agreement..." Yang hesitated for a moment. "We need to fight the creatures of Grimm... till the end of our ability to do so."

The gang hadn't reacted too harshly, instead gave a dumbfounded look.

"Why would he want that...?" Blake asked.

"It's a long story, but let's just say he wants to keep living on this planet."

The others nodded. If they wanted to move on, they couldn't fight.

*_I know, late and super short... I'm sorry, I've contracted gastroenteritis and have been bed-ridden. It's actually lucky I was able to even pick up my laptop today... Again, I am sorry... Please forgive me, and just bear with me. _


	24. Chapter 24: Leaving The Altar

Leaving the Altar

"Ah fuck, my legs hurt..." Ray complained. The others agreed.

"This is much longer of a walk than I remembered..." Ruby replied in agreement.

"Man, what a waste of time coming here... now we've got this bullshit promise on our hands..." Yang thought aloud. She had been burdened with carrying a torch.

No one wanted to say it, but they all knew it was her fault in the first place.

Suddenly Michael stopped walking.

"I feel drowsy, guys..." He blurted.

He did look drowsy, walking like a drunk with his eyes half-closed.

He slowly began to fall...

But he caught himself, stopping the fall with two hands. Michael stayed there for a moment, but popped right back up.

"Whew! Close!" Replacing those drowsy eyes were now wide open, rejuvenated ones. "What a time to be alive!" He continued. Everybody stared at him. What was happening...?

Michael jumped towards Gavin, pulling his shoulders under his arms.

"Hey, Gavy-Wavy!" He exclaimed. "What should be our team name, huh, buddy? OH! How about _Team Nice Dynamite,_ eh? Eh? Eh?" As Michael said team nice dynamite, he pointed his hands out to the sky, as if showing Gavin how wondrous the name was. Gavin merely nodded.

"Let's get a drink after we get out of here, huh buddy? Just you and me, none of those losers." Michael continued.

"Hey!" All the other Achieve Men shouted in unison. Michael ignored them.

"Whaddya say buddy?" He asked Gavin.

"I don't know Michael..." Gavin replied, slipping from Michael's grip. "I think you're drugged or something." 

Michael stopped for a moment.

"Hmmm... I do feel tired..." 

Suddenly he fainted, the sound of his head hitting the floor echoing. Everyone rushed to him.

"Fucking Grimm... Must be playing tricks..." Ryan murmured under his breath, hoisting Michael over his shoulder. "The fucking devil..."

With Michael bouncing on his shoulders, Ryan led the way through the tunnel for a little while.

_Scuttlescuttlescuttle..._

A faint noise, like claws on a floor, was heard throughout the Altar. Almost immediately after the sound, a pair of red eyes glowed in the dark. Ruby quickly jumped for cover behind her sister.

"W-what is that?" She stuttered.

Almost as if answering her foolish question, a large, black rat came from the darkness and hissed. Everyone jumped back. Especially Ruby. She screamed. Very loudly.

"_A RAT?!" _She exclaimed. Yang held her back.

"Calm down..." She said in a soothing voice. "It's only a rat."

The rat had now begun to inspect the group, eyeing them closely. It showed no fear of them. Its eyes glowed menacingly as it looked straight into the eyes of Ruby.

"Ehhhh..." Ruby moaned, cowering behind Yang.

Those scary red eyes still stared.

"Ahhhh..."

Still staring.

"Yang?!"

The rat blinked. Ruby jumped.

"AH! Did you see that? It-it blinked!" 

The rat hissed, and took a couple steps forward, a little bit away from Ryan. It stuck its nose out, and proceeded to smell Ryan, who nearly dropped Michael. He couldn't take it anymore. Watching the stupid rat, being brave and all...

"Damn you!" Ryan suddenly snapped, and kicked the rat away from the light of Yang's torch and into the darkness. Skidding could be heard as the helpless rat ran away. Ryan took a moment to breath, but sighed afterwards.

"Let's go." He blurted. The others looked at each other, and continued, Ruby a bit precariously.

For a while silence filled the entire Altar as the odd group walked through its corridors. The only sound heard by their ears was the torch's crackling. It seemed the straight path would never end.

_Crackle._

The torch suddenly flickered.

_Crackle._

Again.

_Crack._

Oh no.

_Ksssssh._

The group had been enveloped in complete darkness. An audible sigh could be heard coming from someone's mouth.

"It's just one bad thing after another, huh? It can't get worse." Jack groaned. But Ryan had an objection.

"Wah?!" He shouted, looking around frantically in the dark. "W-where's Michael?!"

For a moment, everyone remained silent ,then they all screamed.

"Ah!"

"It's so dark! Where could he be!"

Everyone began to frantically grope around, trying to find Michael. Ray, in panic, clumsily pulled out his rose. It was dangerous to use it when he couldn't see the flame, but he would risk it.

_Blaze._

He whispered into the rose. Jack shot around.

"Wait, Ray, no...!"

But it was too late. The rose had combusted, and exploded in Ray's face violently, sending him flying. He hit the wall, and slid down. 

"...remember last time..." Jack sighed.

Ray's rose was burning on the floor, and the flame gave off enough light to see Michael's body in a heap on the floor. Ryan quickly picked him up, and gestured for Jack to grab Ray.

"Goodness..." Blake moaned, shaking her head as she looked at Jack grab Ray.

"Come on, I just wanna go. Let's hurry." Weiss beckoned. 

"Yeah, come on. I'm getting pretty spooked in here." Geoff agreed. Ryan sighed, and grabbed the burning rose.

"This'll only last for about half an hour, but by then, I'm hoping we'll be out." Ryan informed them, pointing to the rose. They all nodded.

And so they began to walk the endless corridors again. Nothing else happened. It seemed Grimm had had his fair share of fun. And before long, the group had begun to see light. It was the exit! Everyone began to run, wanting to be the first to step out of the Altar.

But the light didn't come from the sky.

It came from the dozens of government vehicles parked outside of the Altar.

And before anyone knew it, the group were faced with the whole country against them.

"Put your hands in the air! You are being held on accounts of trespassing, the unlocking of a citizen's aura, attempted theft, and upsetting peace! You _are _being arrested, and will get a fair trial!" A booming voice came from a megaphone. The group went on their hands on knees. All of them felt an anger. They felt an anger very strong. They were all angry at Ryan, who had placed them in this situation for the selfish reasons only known to himself and Michael. No one wanted to know why Ryan had done this, for if they had they might just want to kill him.


	25. Chapter 25: Interrogation

Interrogation

"So? What were you doing with that man in the alley?" The deputy asked, shining a light in Ryan's face.

"I told you already…" Ryan replied, turning his face away from the light. The deputy sat back in his chair, and turned the light away. Ryan jerked his head back around, facing the officer. He finally had a chance to see the man's face.

His hair was a very deep black, but the edges had begun to turn white from age. He wore wire glasses, covering the tired, worn, small slits he had as eyes. His badge, which rest at his breast, was very polished. This man seemed to be clean and proud of his job.

"Look, that man has been missing for a while. He always has trouble with locals, but as soon as we heard he dashed out of that alley, followed by _you,_ we knew some information had been exchanged, and that it wasn't some small disturbance." The man took a breath and hesitated for a moment, thinking of what next to say. "I wouldn't doubt a man of your intellect knows the rules in place in this country?"

Ryan merely blinked, showing no emotion.

"Ahhhhh. Ok. I see you're a man of few words when it comes to questions. Well, here, the people are hungry for power. They always want to overthrow the government. So we have to keep them in check. To do this, we banned the unlocking of one's aura. And we have reasons to believe you unlocked that man's aura. I wouldn't doubt it if soon that man would attempt to overthrow the government." 

Ryan still remained silent. The deputy eyed him as he pulled out some file folders from a briefcase next to his chair.

"That is not the subject of importance right now, though. Right now I would like to know why you decided to attempt entry into the Altar." He demanded.

Ryan laughed, and cleared his throat, leaning forward on his chair.

"It was not 'attempted'. We got in and made it out alive. It was a success, in a way." He shot back at the officer.

The deputy leaned back on his chair.

"I'm surprised you made it out, I must say…. I would like to know what exactly you saw in there, and how you survived and got out sane." 

Ryan thought for a moment.

"You know, I really have nothing to hide. I'll answer your first question: The reason we went into the Altar was in search of the Tower of Pimp, if you ever heard of it." 

The deputy nodded, gesturing for Ryan to continue.

"Yeah, I really don't know why we went for the Tower, honestly…" Ryan lied. "Anyway, what we saw in there, well… I doubt you'd believe me if I told you."

The officer pouted.

"Just tell me." He beckoned.

Ryan shrugged. "I don't know…."

The officer covered his face with his hands. "Don't give me this bullshit, just tell me!" He shouted through gritted teeth.

Ryan smiled. "Ok. I'll tell you. We went in. We met a demon imprisoned to this Earth by God. I was unconscious, so I really don't remember the rest, but we ran out and now I'm hear."

The deputy groaned. "You're…. fucking… kidding me…."

"No, I'm serious. If you wanna hear the long version, I can tell you." Ryan told the officer. He was getting a kick out of messing with this guy's mind.

The officer closed his eyes, stood still for a moment, then opened them again. He looked at Ryan, slid back in his chair, and got up. He turned the interrogation light and walked to the single door in the room. He stopped as he placed his hand on the door knob. 

"Fuck you."

With those words, he walked out of the room, and slammed the door. Ryan smirked.

_What a pansy…_

He thought as he sat alone in the dark room, left to his own contemplations.

_I wonder how the others are doing…_

Suddenly Ryan's gleeful mood turned into a solemn one. To be frank, he thought he was at fault with all of this. Those poor children's dreams would be smashed when they would go home, only to be expelled from their own school. The guys would most likely lose their reputation as hunters, having attempted theft of an artifact, and possibly endangering a whole country. Now that he thought of it, he had been selfish. What was his reason for all of this? For Edgar? Was that cause even plausible now? Could that goal be seen to anymore?

Would getting Edgar back be worth all this trouble?

Ryan now felt terrible thinking these horrible thoughts. It was degrading to think that he would even attempt anything so selfish. Perhaps he was the bad guy.

But just as he thought of these things, the door to the room burst open. It was Geoff. He was panting. It looked like he had just ran halfway across the world.

"Look, no time to explain, we've, or more like I, have negotiated a deal with the G-men. They'll allow us free as long as we do as they say."

Geoff had pretty much saved the group. All of them were now gathered at a large room, bearing only an unused chalkboard. An official looking old man stood next to the chalkboard.

"I am assigning you all a task." The man's booming voice told the group. For the time being, it will be your only task. If another problem shows up, say, someone who had their aura unlocked attempts to take over a country," The man's eyes flickered towards Ryan. "Then we will contact you and you will get a flown into the country. Yes, this is a contract, binding you to do anything the government tells you to do for 2 years. After 2 years, the contract will expire."

Yang sighed. Yet another fucking contract.

"Here is your current task," The man began to draw a map of Weoeras on the chalkboard. "Bordering Weoeras is a zone where many Grimm are entering the country. Yes, these are types of Grimm you have never seen. They are amphibious, and can breathe underwater and above ground." The man circled an area in the Northern area of the country. "Here is an area where many of our troops are being overwhelmed by an unknown force. You will stop this unknown force. Beware, we've heard counts that it is a large creature that swims impossibly fast. Other accounts tell it's speed on land matches its speed in the water."

The group nodded. Tomorrow they would head out to face this monster.


End file.
